UFORCE, the company behind Ukraine’s Magura sea drones, has raised $700 million at a $6 billion valuation, it said on 12 November. Britain’s National Wealth Fund, owned by the Treasury, co-led the round with Valor Equity Partners, an American growth investor.
UFORCE was formed from nine Ukrainian defence developers and is registered in London, with hubs in Kyiv and Washington. It builds uncrewed boats, aircraft and ground robots, and the software that commands them. Magura boats contributed to the destruction of more than a dozen Russian warships in the Black Sea, the company says, and its Nemesis heavy strike drones have flown more than 300,000 combat flights.
Two government funds are in the round. The National Wealth Fund says its money will bring production and engineering of UFORCE’s systems to Britain. The U.S.-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund, a joint fund of the two countries, called it its largest investment in emerging technology to date; its share pays for UFORCE’s staff and development work in Ukraine.
UFORCE says it will spread manufacturing across the US, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, close to where its systems are used, and keep production running in Ukraine despite Russian attacks. In July it agreed with the boatbuilder ReconCraft to build Magura boats in the US.
Christopher Cavoli, a retired US general who was NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, joins UFORCE’s board. He is now a partner at Valor.
