Drone startup Emesent raises A$25M to ride the defence spending boom
What's the deal? Emesent, a drone tech startup spun out of Australia's CSIRODealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, has raised A$25 million to push deeper into defence.
The round includes A$10 million in venture debt from the National Reconstruction FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, plus equity from NGS SuperDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, HostplusDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Main SequenceDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, QIC VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Orion Resource PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
Emesent makes sensors that attach to drones and use AI and 3D mapping to survey areas without GPS. That has won mining customers including BHPDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Rio TintoDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
Why now? Defence has been one of tech's hottest segments since Russia invaded Ukraine, and Emesent sees an opening in battlefield reconnaissance.
"Construction and mining have become our two primary use cases, but the other big development is our ability to enter into defence, specifically with reconnaissance," chief financial officer David Nucifora told Forbes Australia.
The cash will fund short-term goals, boost manufacturing at its Wacol, Queensland plant, and add 20 roles to the current team of 109.
What could go wrong? This is not a Series B, and Nucifora declined to comment on valuation.
Venture debt spares founders from diluting shares, but it must be repaid — a risk if defence demand takes longer than expected to convert into revenue.
The signal: Emesent, now at breakout stage, is leaning on Australia's A$15 billion National Reconstruction FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → to fill a financing gap that the private market has left open — a government-backed body underwriting a startup's push into sovereign defence capability. That role is telling: with superannuation funds like Hostplus and NGS Super also in the equity round, Australia's institutional capital is increasingly following the same defence-tech thesis that has driven Palantir and Anduril's US valuations.
Read more: Forbes Australia
Image credit: mark6mauno
