Dominion raises $100M as Canada turns inward for defense
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Dominion Dynamics raised $100 million and plans to use the money to mature its command-and-control suite, AuraNet, as well as its robo-wingman, Scout.
Why it matters: The startup, based in Ottawa and founded by former Anduril Industries executive Eliot Pence, is billing the Series A as the largest "in the history of Canadian defense."
Follow the money: The round was led by Georgian. Other backers include Valor Equity Partners, Lakestar, JDY Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners and Silent Ventures.
- Dominion has raised $119 million since launching last year.
What they're saying: "Canada once built technology the rest of the world wanted, then convinced itself that was someone else's role," Pence said in a statement.
- "We started Dominion to show the capability never left, and this round lets us build at the scale and speed the moment demands."
- Dominion moved into a 25,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in June.
The intrigue: Canada has made clear it can no longer count on the U.S. to be a security backstop.
- Its first-ever defense-industrial strategy, published in February, minces no words: "Long-held assumptions have been upended — about the end of imperial conquest, the durability of peace in Europe, and the resilience of old alliances."
- Canada has fulfilled its 2% NATO pledge. It, alongside other allies, has promised to hit 5% by 2035.
What we're watching: If and how Dominion advances the conversation on Arctic security. Its gear was used in the Nanook-Nunalivut exercise, described by the Canadian Armed Forces as a "comprehensive winter operation."
