UForce hits £4.5bn valuation as UK wealth fund backs drone maker
London-based military drone maker UForce has reached a valuation of £4.5bn after raising more than £500m from investors, including £113m from the UK's national wealth fund. The company, founded by Ukrainians, makes drones for land, air and sea, and its equipment has been used extensively in the war in Ukraine.
The round makes UForce one of the UK's fastest-growing unicorns, the term for a startup valued at more than $1bn.
UK supply chain commitment
The Ministry of Defence said UForce would invest in a British supply chain as part of the deal. Hulls, engines, electronics and fit-out would be sourced in the UK, and more than 70% of the content of each UK-built boat would come from British suppliers.
Defence secretary Wes Streeting said bringing battle-tested expertise to the UK would create high-skilled jobs, spur innovation and strengthen war-fighting readiness. The source gives no figures for jobs or production sites.
Maritime focus
Streeting met UForce chief executive Oleg Rogynskyy on Thursday 12 November aboard HMS Prince of Wales during a defence conference in Oslo. The MoD highlighted the firm's maritime capabilities, citing concern over the growing Russian threat in the north Atlantic and North Sea. Russian naval vessels and its so-called shadow fleet have been accused of sabotage and spying on cables and pipelines. The UK is also planning a fleet of sea-borne drones in northern waters to track Russia's nuclear submarines.
During the visit Streeting piloted a UForce MV7 uncrewed vessel located more than 1,500 miles away in the Atlantic, near Portugal.
Investors and board
Valor Equity Partners, founded by Antonio Gracias, was the other lead investor. Christopher Cavoli, a partner at Valor and a retired US general who was Nato's supreme allied commander for Europe until last year, will join the UForce board. Former Conservative defence secretary Ben Wallace is also on the board.
Rogynskyy grew up in Dnipro, Ukraine, and previously founded the Silicon Valley firm People.ai. He said the funding would let UForce scale up production for Ukraine and its allies, and that the aim was to "make aggression unaffordable".
Source: Guardian Aerospace · Image: Pixabay