Defense startup Shield AI gets a valuation of $12.7 billion, up 140%, after US Air Force deal

Autonomous military aircraft maker Shield AI has raised $1.5 billion in Series G funding at a post-money valuation of $12.7 billion, the company announced Tuesday. The deal was led by private equity firm Advent (which has a $1 billion budget to invest in defense technology, it says) and investment group JPMorganChase.

In addition, Shield AI sold $500 million worth of preferred stock to funds managed by Blackstone (and also created a $250 million loan it could draw on later). This capital helps Shield acquire Aechelon Technology, a manufacturer of flight simulation technology used to train U.S. military pilots. The terms of this acquisition were not disclosed.

The new round comes after Shield raised $240 million at a valuation of $5.3 billion in March 2025. This means its value jumped 140% in one year. There’s a good reason for that: Shield AI’s Hivemind autonomous software was selected in February as the provider of the U.S. Air Force’s collaborative combat drone prototype program.

Interestingly, the Shield program has been selected to work with competitor Anduril for its “Fury” autonomous fighter jet. Anduril, of course, has its own software, called Lattice, to fly its Fury planes. But it’s clear that the Air Force doesn’t want to be locked into one vendor for the entire drone fleet of next-generation warfighters.

However, it is difficult for Anduril to be accepted in stages by sharing some of the spoils. It last raised $2.5 billion at a $30.5 billion valuation in June and word on the street is that it is looking to raise up to $8 billion at a $60 billion valuation.

Other investors participating in Shield’s Series G include Snowpoint Ventures, InnovationX, Riot Ventures, Disruptive, and Apandion.