Mara

Defense Tech · Drones · Hardware

Funding

Mara raises $7M pre-seed to build backpack-portable drone interceptor Spike

Cheap FPV drones costing a few hundred dollars have become the deadliest battlefield threat, forcing counter-drone defenses to match that price point.

• Mara, a San Francisco defense hardware startup, raised $7 million in a pre-seed round led by Khosla Ventures to develop its Spike counter-drone system.
• Spike pairs a sensor unit called Spotter, which uses optical, acoustic and optional radar tracking, with Seeker, a small autonomous interceptor drone it cues to launch and strike incoming threats.
• Seeker weighs 250 grams, flies at roughly 200 km/h, and a single Spike launcher can hold up to 48 interceptors, reloadable in under a minute.
• FPV quadcopters costing only a few hundred dollars have become the leading cause of combat casualties in conflicts like Ukraine, often attacking in coordinated waves of four to six drones.
• Mara plans to ship ground-mounted Spike units to customers by the end of 2026, with vehicle-mounted and man-portable versions following alongside a production ramp in 2027.
• By making interceptors as cheap and expendable as the drones they stop, Mara is trying to flip the cost equation that has let inexpensive FPV swarms overwhelm costly traditional air defenses.