Terra Industries, a Nigerian defence technology startup, has raised $11.75 million to expand its development of defensive systems that protect critical facilities across Africa.
The fundraising round was led by Silicon Valley venture firm 8VC, which was founded by Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale.
Other investors in the round include Valour Equity Partners, Lux Capital, SV Angel, and Nova Global, as well as African-focused funds Tofino Capital, Kaleo Ventures, and DFS Lab.
Terra Industries, founded in Abuja by Nathan Nwachuku and Maxwell Maduka, provides multi-domain security solutions for both air and land. Its solutions are intended to detect and respond to threats including terrorism, sabotage, and armed attacks on infrastructure.
The company’s product portfolio includes surveillance drones, ground-based robotic systems, and fixed monitoring towers deployed around sensitive locations.
Co-founder and CEO Nathan Nwachuku said the company has now fully embraced its identity as a defence-focused startup, citing the growing urgency of security challenges across Africa.
He said safeguarding critical infrastructure from terrorist threats has become unavoidable.
Nwachuku argues that protecting Africa’s infrastructure requires a different approach, one that combines local manufacturing, end-to-end system control, and software capable of independently identifying and responding to threats over large areas.
The company aims to position itself as a defence prime, similar to the role played by firms such as Anduril Industries and Palantir in the United States.
Nwachuku also disclosed that the company had earlier raised $800,000 in pre-seed funding.
With the new funding, Terra plans to increase manufacturing capacity within Africa, establish additional defence production facilities, and expand its artificial intelligence and software teams.
While software offices are planned for San Francisco and London, the company said manufacturing operations will remain on the continent.
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