Austin-based defense technology startup Breaker has raised $6 million in a seed funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with follow-on investment from Australian venture firm Main Sequence, which previously led the company’s pre-seed round. The new capital will support the development and deployment of Breaker’s AI agent software, designed to enable military operators to control teams of autonomous systems across air, land, and sea using voice commands.
The funding comes amid a surge in defense innovation, as the United States intensifies efforts to maintain global leadership and strengthen national security through advanced technologies. In January 2026, the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit launched the $100 million Autonomous Orchestrator Challenge, highlighting the complexity and urgency of coordinating autonomous military systems at scale.
Breaker aims to address what it describes as defense’s autonomous vehicle orchestration problem. Its platform-agnostic software allows operators to communicate with fleets of robots using the radios they already carry. Each robot runs an onboard AI agent that interprets voice commands and translates intent into real-time, context-aware actions.
Unlike many systems that depend on cloud connectivity or external networks, Breaker’s software operates entirely onboard each robot. This design enables continued mission-aligned decision-making even in communications-denied or jammed environments, allowing autonomous systems to function effectively at the tactical edge.
According to the company, its technology has been demonstrated globally, including through successful contracts with the United States Special Operations Command and Singapore’s Defense Science and Technology Agency.
Bessemer Venture Partners, one of the world’s longest-standing venture capital firms, led the round. The firm has previously backed companies such as Canva, Rocket Lab, Shopify, Anthropic, and Perplexity.
Breaker, which is headquartered in Sydney, NSW, and Austin, Texas, was founded by Matthew Buffa, Michael Irwin, and Vanja Videnovic. The company is staffed by engineers formerly with Anduril, Droneshield, and Hargrave Technologies, and is focused on building autonomous systems that can understand missions, make nuanced decisions, and operate more like teammates than remote-controlled tools.
KEY QUOTES
“Today, autonomy still means one operator controlling one robot, with remote controls or laptops, which fundamentally limits the number of autonomous systems that can be deployed. In this drone warfare era, the next frontier is orchestration – how to manage and coordinate robotic teams at speed, at scale and under pressure. Breaker’s software changes the operator-to-robot ratio – turning small teams into force multipliers. Robots become genuine teammates that understand and deliver on the mission. With our tech, a single human operator simply talks to the fleet of autonomous systems over the radios they already carry. The onboard AI agent in turn responds with real-time, context-aware responses, translating the operator’s intent into machine action. Allowing operators to stay focused on their mission, whether driving a truck or flying a helicopter.”
Matthew Buffa, Co-Founder of Breaker
“As outlined in Bessemer’s 2026 Defense Tech Roadmap, we are seeing a period of rapid transformation as uncrewed systems proliferate at scale. Breaker’s on-robot agents will redefine how militaries deploy and manage autonomous systems. By enabling small teams to safely control large numbers of robots through intuitive, natural language interfaces, Breaker is tackling one of the hardest and most important problems in defense technology.”
David Cowan, Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners
