Terra Industries, a defense technology company developing autonomous security systems to protect critical infrastructure across Africa, has emerged from stealth with an $11.75 million funding round led by U.S. venture firm 8VC.
The round also included participation from Valor Equity Partners, Lux Capital, SV Angel, Leblon Capital, Silent Ventures, Nova Global, and angel investors including Micky Malka, according to the company. Terra added Alex Moore, a defense partner at 8VC and a board director at Palantir, to its board last year.
Founded in 2024 by Nathan Nwachuku and Maxwell Maduka, Terra designs and manufactures autonomous defense systems intended to help governments and infrastructure operators monitor, secure, and respond to threats across land, air, and maritime environments. The company said its technology is already deployed to protect power plants, mines, and other nationally critical assets in multiple African countries.
Terra is positioning itself to address what it describes as a growing mismatch between rapid industrial development and security capacity in remote, high-risk regions. The company pointed to ongoing threats including corruption, organized crime, terrorism, and illegal resource extraction, which it says can disrupt supply chains and weaken investor confidence—particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Sahel.
The company’s product portfolio includes long- and mid-range drones, autonomous sentry towers, unmanned ground vehicles, and maritime surveillance systems. These systems run on ArtemisOS, Terra’s proprietary software platform designed for real-time threat detection, autonomous mission planning, and coordinated response across wide areas where traditional security models can be costly or difficult to scale.
Terra said it currently helps secure infrastructure assets valued at approximately $11 billion across the continent and has “tens of millions” of dollars in contracts, alongside a pipeline spanning public- and private-sector customers. The company cited deployments including the Geometric Power Plant in Aba, two hydropower plants in northern Nigeria, and gold and lithium mining operations in Nigeria and Ghana. While its existing contracts have focused on infrastructure security, Terra said it is expanding into multinational border security and counterterrorism use cases as regional instability rises.
The founders bring backgrounds spanning engineering and defense-adjacent work, the company said. Nwachuku previously built an education technology platform before shifting focus to industrial security. Maduka grew up in Nigerian naval barracks, served in the Nigerian Navy as a lead UAV engineer, and founded a drone company that was later acquired by an automotive manufacturer.
Terra said it designs and manufactures systems on the continent, supported by a 15,000-square-foot facility in Abuja, and plans to expand engineering and business development leadership in San Francisco and London. The company also argued that local production improves data sovereignty and support responsiveness relative to imported defense systems, and said it has competed against foreign incumbents by emphasizing hardware-software integration and faster deployments.
The new funding will be used to expand manufacturing capacity, grow the engineering and software teams, and deploy additional autonomous systems across allied African countries, Terra said.
KEY QUOTES:
“Africa is industrializing faster than any other region, with new mines, refineries, and power plants emerging every month. But none of that progress will matter if we don’t solve the continent’s greatest Achilles heel, which is insecurity and terrorism. Our mission is to give Africa the technological edge to protect its industrial future and defeat terrorism.” “This is African technology, built by African engineers, for African infrastructure. We are creating skilled jobs, building advanced manufacturing capacity, and ensuring the intellectual property behind Africa’s security stays on the continent.”
Nathan Nwachuku, Co-Founder, Terra Industries
“Nathan and Maxwell have assembled a brilliant team to tackle a vital problem for the continent. We are excited to support their mission.”
Alex Moore, Defense Partner, 8VC
