Epirus announced an oversubscribed $250 million Series D fundraising round, bringing the company’s total venture funding to more than $550 million and positioning it to scale its Leonidas product line production to meet growing global demand. Leonidas is a scalable solid-state, high-energy, high-power microwave (HPM) technology for counter-electronics applications that has been proven effective in Department of Defense testing in countering drones, drone swarms, and other electronics.
This funding will enable Epirus to grow and acquire the best talent, improve supply chain resiliency, upgrade internal systems and processes, expand into international and commercial markets, and increase the company’s innovation and manufacturing footprint in the U.S.
The funding round was led by 8VC and Washington Harbour Partners LP, alongside a deep roster of return investors including StepStone Group, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Investment Management, Gaingels, strategic defense partner General Dynamics Land Systems, and new investors including Oppenheimer’s Private Market Opportunities Vista VI Fund, NightDragon, Manhattan Venture Partners, Centaurus Capital LP, and Center15 Capital.
Most battlefields are littered with thousands of low-cost, highly networked and highly distributed threats, capable of overwhelming traditional defenses through sheer volume and agility. And this shift in warfare necessitates technologies that are scalable and easily upgraded to fit a range of use cases, effective against a spectrum of threats, and capable of processing many threats simultaneously by a single operator.
This is why Epirus built Leonidas—a solid-state, software-defined, high-energy HPM system that delivers unmatched electronic warfare capabilities. Proven as a scalable counter-swarm solution, Leonidas features an open architecture, unlimited magazine, and demonstrated non-kinetic effects against a wide range of electronic threats.
With this funding round, Epirus will realize its 2018 founding vision of building next-generation short-range air defense systems at scale and advance our mission of overcoming the asymmetric challenges inherent to the future of national security.
Epirus’ Leonidas HPM systems use solid-state gallium-nitride semiconductors and intelligent power management techniques to generate the most energy-dense pulse against electronics ever built.
As an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA), Leonidas is built on a building block architecture that allows a myriad of configurations enabling a wide variety of critical assets needing protection.
Epirus envisions a future where HPM force fields are essential for protecting critical assets in any layered defense system—whether for Golden Dome, convoy protection, Space, or beyond. The opportunities ahead are vast, from military installations, borders, airports, and power plants to integration within tanks, next-generation aerial platforms, and helicopters.
Since 2018, Epirus has heavily invested in internal research and development, driving constant innovation with a human-centered design approach and an agile and scalable manufacturing process. When Epirus secured its first major U.S. Army contract, it delivered prototype systems in nine months. Maintaining this speed with discipline—at scale—is how America and its allies will win.
With the company’s latest funding round, Epirus expands innovation and manufacturing in the U.S. Epirus’ first initiative is a unique, immersive simulation center opening in Q3 2025 in Oklahoma—home to U.S. Army Garrison Fort Sill and the Joint Counter-Small UAS University at the Fires Center of Excellence.
The simulation center will feature surround-sound audio, stadium seating, floor-to-ceiling video and agile training modules, creating an immersive and realistic training environment to prepare warfighters for today’s threats. Additional manufacturing expansions, along with process and system improvements, will be announced later this year.
While some technology companies have distanced themselves from working with the U.S. Department of Defense, Epirus is one of a select cohort of neo-primes committed to driving critical technological advancement and innovation in pursuit of protecting democratic values, national security and the warfighter.
KEY QUOTES:
“Our directed EMP is already the best protection against drone swarms today. With our capital and talent and the right partnerships with US DoD to continue to advance Epirus’ technology, it will quickly become critical for defending aircraft, ships and even satellites and space-based platforms—and determinative for the future of warfare.”
– Joe Lonsdale, Epirus Founder and Managing Partner, 8VC
“The future of warfare demands defense technologies that are intelligent, agile, scalable, and cost-effective. Epirus is delivering exactly that as the transformative leader in counter-electronics technology, delivering the only field-deployable solution capable of neutralizing drone swarms at scale. As the U.S. faces mounting threats and a strained defense industrial base, Epirus provides a unique asymmetric advantage to fill a critical gap in our national security. We are honored to partner with Epirus as they pioneer the next generation of directed energy capabilities, redefining how we protect our warfighters, civilians, and critical infrastructure.”
– Mina Faltas, Founder and Chief Investment Officer at Washington Harbour Partners
“GDLS is excited to continue our strategic partnership with Epirus and the promise of high-power microwave technology solutions used to address counter-UAS threats for military application.”
– Dave Paddock, President, General Dynamics Land Systems.
“A new era of threats mandates a shift from a ‘1 to 1’ mindset to a ‘1 to many’ way of thinking for short-range air defense, and we are primed to support the Department of Defense in this new way of warfare. This funding will supercharge the manufacturing capability for our Leonidas high-power microwave product line and position us for our next stage of scaling growth.”
“It’s not just the effector that must operate with a “1 to many” mindset—the entire kill chain, from sensors to command and control, must do the same. We’ve worked alongside the Defense Department to drive this approach and will continue to support its evolution as the threat landscape evolves.”
– Andy Lowery, Epirus CEO
