Radian Forge raises $2.5M seed to speed up US naval parts manufacturing
What's the deal? Radian ForgeDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Portsmouth, Virginia-based advanced manufacturing startup, has raised $2.5 million in a seed round led by Veteran Ventures CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, with participation from the Virginia Innovation Partnership CorporationDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and existing investors. The company makes large-scale, precision-grade metal components for US naval, maritime, and defense applications.
What's the endgame? Radian Forge uses large-format Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) to produce complex components with material properties between castings and forgings. It says the process cuts production lead times by 40–80% and lets each WAAM robot run with a single operator.
Why now? The round lands as the US works to expand shipbuilding and repair capacity, strengthen domestic supply chains, and ease production bottlenecks across the maritime industrial base. Radian Forge sits next to some of the nation's largest naval shipbuilding and repair facilities.
What's the money for? The financing will accelerate the company's on-demand production capacity. In February 2026, Governor Abigail Spanberger announced Radian Forge would invest $10.5 million to expand its Portsmouth operations, creating 53 new jobs, backed by a $265,000 state Opportunity Fund grant.
Joshua Weed, general partner at Veteran Ventures Capital, led the investment and will join Radian Forge's board. "Radian Forge is building the domestic manufacturing capacity needed to help close that gap," he said, referring to the US need for a responsive manufacturing base to sustain naval power.
Chief executive officer Jeff Yeager, a former US Marine, framed the challenge in terms of speed. "Radian Forge is building the capacity to put critical components into the hands of our customers in weeks, not months," he said.
The signal: The deal reflects rising investor interest in defense and dual-use manufacturing tied to national security. Veteran Ventures, which backs veteran-led companies across defense, aerospace, and advanced manufacturing, is betting that faster domestic production is now a readiness issue as much as an industrial one.
Read more: morningstar.com
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
