FundraiseSep 2, 2026, 13:54 UTC

AITAN raises $41M to take Israel's combat drone tech global

What's the deal? AITAN, formerly known as eyesAtop, has raised $41 million in its first significant funding round to expand its AI-based combat drone technology beyond Israel. The round was co-led by Deep33 and Dell Technologies Capital, bringing the company's total raised to $54 million.

Who's backing it? Participants include Gokul Rajaram, a board member at Pinterest and Coinbase; Benjamin Ling of Bling Capital; and Kevin Weil of Scribble Ventures.

What's the endgame? AITAN builds AI-based combat systems designed to let robotic forces carry out complex missions while reducing soldiers' exposure to risk. Its main product is an operating system for drones.

Why now? The systems have been used by Israeli forces since October 7 and have accumulated more than 500,000 operational flight hours. The new funding will help take technology developed through that combat experience to Israel's allies.

How it got here: The company was built on the technology of eyesAtop, a startup founded more than a decade ago. In 2025, entrepreneurs Udi Oster and Daniel Almog acquired the technology to capitalise on surging demand for drones following the war in Israel.

Oster and Almog, who met in Unit 8200, previously founded Tapingo, an online food-ordering platform sold to Grubhub for $150 million in 2018. They now serve as AITAN's joint chief executive officers, leading about 50 employees in Ramat Gan. The company was renamed AITAN in memory of Oster's younger brother, Eitan, an officer killed in Lebanon in September 2024.

The signal: Investor appetite for defence technology proven in active combat is growing, and AITAN's raise reflects a push to export Israeli battlefield-tested systems to allied markets.