The ULTRA UGV maneuvers through woods with a modular and integrated counter-drone capability in a recent field demonstration. | Source: Overland AI
Overland AI, a developer of autonomous ground systems for defense, today announced it raised $100 million in funding. The company plans to use the funding to meet the growing demand for its ULTRA vehicle as militaries accelerate the integration of ground autonomy directly into operational units.
“Demand for ground autonomy has moved decisively from experimentation to operational integration,” stated Stephanie Bonk, co-founder and president of Overland AI. “This funding allows us to scale alongside the units adopting our technology. We are training warfighters directly and incorporating continuous feedback to ensure our systems perform in real-world conditions, while building the trust required for operational use.”
Founded in 2022, Overland AI said it is powering ground operations for modern defense. The Seattle-based company has conducted more than a decade of research in robotics and machine learning. It said that and its “field test-forward ethos” enable it to deliver advanced autonomy for unit commanders.
Overland AI to build on 2025 momentum
Last year, Overland AI completed the DARPA RACER (Robotic Autonomy in Complex Environments with Resiliency) platform, after three years of testing and iterating its platform autonomy.
The company said it has transitioned its reliable and resilient capability to end users by expanding operations across a wide range of missions, including counter-UAS (uncrewed aerial systems), ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance), contested logistics and resupply, breaching, and more.
Overland AI is already working with formations across the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, and Special Operations Command (SOCOM), including the 82nd Airborne Division, 1st Cavalry Division, 173rd Airborne Brigade, 36th Engineer Brigade, and 2nd Marine Logistics Group. It has also recently partnered with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to support wildfire mitigation and suppression.
“We have seen such success this past year because the ground autonomy we are delivering to warfighters actually works,” said Byron Boots, co-founder and CEO of Overland AI. “We were right to solve the hardest problem first by building core autonomy for individual vehicle intelligence. It is the prerequisite for everything else that follows, including collaborative autonomy across multiple vehicles.”
Autonomous systems make breaching missions safer
Breaching missions involve some of the most complex and dangerous environments in ground combat. Robotics can help remove combat engineers from the point of breach, the physical location at an enemy obstacle—such as a minefield, wire, or barrier—where a force attempts to create a lane for passage.
Overland AI partnered with soldiers from the 36th Engineer Brigade, 20th Engineer Battalion, and 59th Combat Engineer Company (Armored) to integrate ground autonomy into the breach of an obstacle belt. They combined their assets in a human-machine integrated formation. The company said this combination advanced technical capabilities for the Army and significantly reduced risk to soldiers.
8VC led Overland AI’s equity round, with continued participation from Point72 Ventures, Ascend Venture Capital, Shasta Ventures, and Overmatch Ventures. The funding also included new support from Valor Equity Partners and StepStone Group, alongside other institutional investors. The total amount raised includes a $20 million venture debt facility from TriplePoint Capital.
The post Overland AI raises $100M to scale autonomy with the U.S. armed forces appeared first on The Robot Report.
