The company will use some of the money from its stock market listing to expand investments in autonomous aerial and ground robotics.
Ondas Holdings, a Boston-based provider of autonomous drones, is using some of the $217m it estimates it has raised from a recent stock market listing to invest in defence technologies as part of its new corporate venturing strategy.
The company launched a corporate venturing unit, Ondas Capital, earlier this month. The unit, which will invest at least $150m over two years, is focused on accelerating the deployment of unmanned and autonomous systems in allied defence and security markets.
Its target investment areas include unmanned aerial and ground robotics, advanced simulation and AI solutions for autonomous operations.
It is unusual for company to use money raised from a stock market listing to boost startup investing. The company completed its IPO last week and said it will use the net proceeds for corporate development and strategic growth, including acquisitions, joint ventures and investments.
There has been a growing trend for companies to set up investment arms at an early stage of their life-cycle. AI infrastructure provider CoreWeave recently set up a corporate venture unit, just six months after listing on Nasdaq. Meanwhile, a number of companies such as OpenAI and Perplexity AI have started investing in startups before a public listing.
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Ondas Holdings’ expansion in autonomous drone and robotics technologies comes amid a wave of increased investments in defence tech, particularly in Europe.
“In recent years, we have witnessed a rapid acceleration of new technologies that are changing the way militaries project power, secure borders, and protect critical infrastructure,” said James Acuna, the new head of Ondas Capital, in a release. “We believe there is an urgent need to scale how these next-generation capabilities are delivered to Allied nations.
In addition to its US operations, the Ondas Capital plans to open a European headquarters through which it will have a presence in Estonia, Ukraine and the UK.
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