Cambridge Aerospace has closed a $300m Series C led by DFJ Growth at a $3.4bn post-money valuation, roughly 2.6 times the $1.3bn it commanded just four months ago and a striking mark-up for a company founded less than two years ago.
Cambridge Aerospace, the UK-headquartered defence manufacturer behind the Skyhammer drone interceptor, has raised $300m in a Series C round that values the business at $3.4bn. The round was led by US growth investor DFJ Growth, with participation from Lux, Accel, Lakestar, Never Lift, Ora Global and Elad Gil.
The raise lands only four months after the company's $200m Series B, which closed in April 2026 at a $1.3bn valuation and was co-led by Elad Gil & Co and Spark Capital. The pace of the re-rating is notable: the post-money figure has more than doubled inside a single calendar year, and the company has moved from launch to a multi-billion-dollar valuation since its founding in 2024.
The cap table now reflects a syndicate weighted towards US deep-tech and growth capital, with Elad Gil among the investors returning across consecutive rounds. Terms on ownership splits and dilution were not disclosed.
Founded in Cambridge, the company designs counter-drone and interceptor systems. Its portfolio spans Skyhammer, the drone interceptor already in production, Starhammer, a missile interceptor slated to reach the market in 2027, and Looking Glass, a radar system. Chief executive Steven Barrett, a former MIT researcher now based at Cambridge University, leads a workforce of more than 250, two-thirds of whom sit in technical and engineering roles.
Momentum on the commercial side has underpinned the valuation. Since the Series B, Cambridge Aerospace has secured several contracts with the UK Ministry of Defence, including a multi-million-pound agreement to supply Skyhammer to the UK Armed Forces. The work forms part of the Low-Cost Effectors & Autonomous Platforms (LEAP) programme announced in July. Beyond the UK, the company has established a presence in Germany, Poland, Norway, Ukraine and Australia.
Barrett said the capital would allow the company "to continue to scale our manufacturing and our delivery to meet the pace of threats, and the needs of Allied nations." Defence Secretary Wes Streeting called the valuation "a great vote of confidence in Britain," pointing to Skyhammer as an example of the low-cost interceptors the Armed Forces require.
The proceeds are earmarked for manufacturing capacity to service existing contracts and to bring Starhammer to market next year. For a British defence start-up moving at this cadence, the open question is whether order flow can keep pace with a valuation that has tripled in under half a year.
Original source: Tech.eu — https://tech.eu/2026/08/10/cambridge-aerospaces-valuation-leaps-to-34bn-as-raised-300m/
