Participated · Seed · Jun 2026

Askari develops hand‑launched, fully autonomous hit‑to‑kill interceptors designed for dismounted operators; its two main systems are Rift Alpha and Rift Bravo. Rift Alpha targets Group 1 and 2 UAS, can be launched from the hand, a tube, or a box, has a range of about 2 km and top speed around 60 m/s, and is already in customer use. Rift Bravo is a smaller, foldable Group 1 interceptor with roughly 1 km range, speeds above 100 mph, and a form factor that allows a dozen to fit in a rucksack; Bravo remains in development supported by non‑dilutive R&D contracts. Askari says it has over $2M in real procurement contracts and an order book exceeding $2M, with customers predominantly in the special operations community and reported intercept rates near 90% during testing with a Tier One customer. The company emerged from stealth in April, was founded by Georgia Tech alumni Robbie Van Zyl and Ben Airdo (both 25) alongside Marc Van Zyl, and plans to use new funding to scale production and expand engineering and operations headcount. Future product ambitions include adapting interceptors for ground‑vehicle threats and developing tooling to automate rapid interceptor design and delivery.

Led · Seed · Mar 2026

Mantis Space is developing a constellation of spacecraft that remain nearly perpetually in sunlight and transmit power to satellites while they are in Earth’s shadow, allowing customer satellites, space stations, and orbital compute platforms to operate at full capacity regardless of their position relative to the Sun. By removing the need for satellites to chase sunlight, the company claims it can boost mission utilization and economic return by 2-3×. The Albuquerque-based startup positions its service as foundational infrastructure for the next wave of space activity, including orbital data centers and persistent intelligence systems that demand uninterrupted, high-density power. Mantis Space emerged from stealth with an executive team that includes veterans from BlueHalo, Terran Orbital, Sandia National Laboratories, Apple’s Face ID program, and Google’s MicroLED effort. The company plans to use its initial capital to expand hiring and build out go-to-market operations from its New Mexico headquarters. Financial details beyond its recent seed round were not disclosed, and the company has not yet released revenue or user metrics.