Smack raises $61M Series B as Pentagon pushes AI vendors to move faster
What's the deal? Smack TechnologiesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a defence-tech startup building AI decision-making tools for the military, has raised a $61 million Series B. Costanoa Ventures, First InDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Point72 VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Geodesic CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → took part. The valuation was not disclosed.
Why now? The round follows the Defense Department's move in March to label AnthropicDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → a "supply-chain risk," sending military branches scrambling to diversify their AI vendors. That fallout led to spring conversations with the Marine Corps and Navy, both of which pressed Smack to speed up production, co-founder and chief executive officer Andy Markoff said.
What's the endgame? Smack's core product, Omega, shortens the Marine Corps' fires-planning process — deciding what to target and adapting in real time when munitions, sensors, or shooters drop out of a battle plan. It uses reinforcement-learning models and computer vision to generate options in minutes and repair upended plans in seconds.
The new funding will speed Omega production and fund development of Alpha, a flexible forearm AI display meant to replace the improvised whiteboards troops have strapped to their arms. Smack runs an Austin, Texas office for the effort and is targeting 10 to 20 prototype units over the next six months.
Why the urgency? Markoff points to a Pentagon worry: a future war with a peer adversary would be fought in a decentralised, communications-degraded setting, unlike Iraq and Afghanistan. "The future of war … will be more decentralised than any conflict that we've ever fought," he said, adding that most tactical decisions would be made on the battlefield before data reaches central systems.
In July, Smack won two prototyping contracts, from the Joint Fires Network and the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab. The values were undisclosed but together worth more than seven figures. Headcount has grown from 19 employees in April to 51, with plans to reach roughly 85 by year's end.
The signal: The Anthropic rupture turned smaller defence-AI startups from afterthoughts into contenders. Smack's raise shows how quickly Pentagon vendor anxiety can reshape which companies get funded — and how fast they're expected to ship.
Read more: WTVB
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
