Calgary’s North Vector Dynamics said Monday it has closed a Series A round of more than $29 million ($US 20 million) to move its CM-70 counter-drone interceptor from testing toward production.
Tech Horizons, a European defence venture fund set up with Czech industrial group CSG, led the round after backing North Vector’s seed round in the spring. ONE9, Garage Capital, CSG, Ripple Ventures, Feld Ventures and Conconi Growth Partners also took part, along with other unnamed investors. Chief executive Paul Ziadé told The Globe and Mail that Canadian investors made up a “sizable minority” of the round, with the rest American and European.
The round values the company at more than $125 million ($US 90 million). North Vector gave the same valuation in August, when CSG took a strategic stake of undisclosed size, and Monday’s release does not update it.
The CM-70 is a small, low-cost guided missile built to shoot down fast, manoeuvring drones and to plug into existing layered air defences. North Vector says it is free of ITAR, the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations that govern exports of American military technology, which matters to allies wary of U.S. export controls. “Allied forces need affordable, producible air defence at scale,” Ziadé said in the company release.
The money will pay for manufacturing and assembly, more in-house production, a more secure supply chain, new offices in the United States and Europe, and hiring. Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) provided early funding and testing support. SpaceQ reported in July that the company also holds a $4.2 million DRDC contract for high-speed propulsion work, part of a longer road toward hypersonic flight, and that NordSpace’s venture arm had invested. The release does not list NordSpace among the investors.
CSG’s reach into the Canadian sector keeps growing. This month the Prague-based group bought a 9.5 per cent stake in MDA Space, becoming its largest shareholder. In both cases, Canada’s push for a sovereign defence industry is attracting capital from abroad.