Defcon AI, a McLean startup that aims to simplify logistics operations in complicated and dynamic military environments, has raised $44 million in funding led by prominent San Francisco investment firm Bessemer Venture Partners.
It brings the company's total outside funding to $47 million following the startup's 2022 spinout from Tysons investment and incubation firm Red Cell Partners LLC, which led the company's prior pre-seed round. Dallas investor Fifth Growth Fund and Red Cell also participated in the latest round.
Defcon will maintain one of Red Cell's largest incubation spaces as it continues pursuing contracts across the Department of Defense. It has already closed millions of dollars in Small Business Innovation Research contracts from the U.S. Air Force, but founder and CEO Yisroel Brumer told me there are plenty of opportunities for Defcon's platform to be used by the Pentagon and defense agencies in war zones.
The company's software tool can be fitted for "extremely broad applications" to solve challenges like orchestrating new logistics operations in an active war zone, where variables like road conditions or airfield access are constantly changing. Defcon's platform is powered by in-house algorithms, which have been trained on proprietary data sets, though data from the Pentagon and others can also be entered to better craft outcomes while in a conflict.
"Right now, it can take days or weeks to plan complex logistics operations and with Artiv, which is Defcon's primary product, you can do it in minutes or even seconds," Brumer said during a video interview.
Brumer said Defcon employs about 40 people now. Future hiring prospects will depend on the startup's ability to land additional military contracts, he said.
He declined to share revenue figures but noted the company has been profitable in the past. For the immediate future, though, Brumer said he is less concerned about profitability and instead is focused on scaling operations quickly to keep up with demand from its military customers.
While the military is Defcon's primary customer, Brumer said he imagines the platform being useful to private-sector companies as well. But expanding into that market will likely involve raising additional capital.
"We're nearing the end of the DOD's fiscal year, so we're very focused for the next couple of months on closing contracts, after which we intend to start looking more aggressively into commercial expansion," Brumer said. "I'm confident there will be future fundraises, but it's not where our head is right now."
As a result of Bessmer's investment, Christopher Wan, vice president in Bessemer's San Francisco office, and Ray O. Johnson, the former chief technology officer of Lockheed Martin Corp. and an operating partner at Bessemer, will join Defcon's board of directors.
