Terra Industries

Defense Tech · Africa · Hardware

Funding

Terra Industries closes $52M seed round, Africa's biggest ever

Investors are betting African governments will pay for locally built defense systems instead of imports from Turkey, China, and the West.

• Terra Industries added $18M to close its seed round at $52M, with backing from 8VC, Silent Ventures, Nova Global, Belief Capital, SV Angel and new investor Norleo Space Investments.
• Founded in 2024 by Nathan Nwachuku, 22, and Maxwell Maduka, 24, the Abuja-based startup builds autonomous drones, sentry towers and ground vehicles run on its proprietary ArtemisOS software.
• The $52M came together in three tranches over eight months: $11.75M led by 8VC in January, a $22M extension led by Lux Capital in February, and this $18M close, pushing Terra to a nine-figure valuation.
• Terra's systems already protect roughly $11B in African critical infrastructure, and the company expects over $100M in contract bookings with tens of millions in revenue by year-end, up from about $2.5M previously.
• The new capital funds a 34,000-square-foot Pax-2 drone factory in Ghana opening in Q4, targeting 50,000 units a year by 2028, plus Terra's first international offices in London, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
• Terra frames its competition as any defense supplier with African government contracts, especially firms from Turkey, China and the West, in a market where fragmented foreign supply chains leave security systems exposed.
• The round signals growing investor conviction that sovereign, locally manufactured defense infrastructure can outcompete imported systems across the Global South, not just in Africa.