Terra Raises $22m in Weeks As Valuation Tops $100m

African defence technology startup Terra has raised $22 million in fresh capital barely weeks after closing an $11.8 million round, pushing its valuation beyond $100 million in one of the fastest funding surges seen in the continent’s hardware sector.
The latest round was led by Lux Capital with participation from African fintech leaders and global investors, including Flutterwave chief executive Olugbenga Agboola and Hollywood actor Jared Leto.
The rapid raise brings Terra’s total funding to $34 million and marks a rare milestone for a hardware startup founded just two years ago, highlighting growing investor appetite for home-grown defence technology.
The firm was founded in 2024, designs and manufactures autonomous drones, sentry towers and unmanned vehicles, powered by its proprietary software platform, ArtemisOS

The company said demand for local defence systems is rising across Africa as governments and private operators seek alternatives to imported solutions that are costly and vulnerable to geopolitical risks.

According to Terra’s chief executive, Nathan Nwachuku, “Africa is industrialising faster than any other region, but none of that progress will matter if we don’t solve the continent’s greatest Achilles heel, which is insecurity and terrorism”

Similarly, Terra disclosed that its systems currently protect infrastructure assets valued at about $11 billion and that it has signed contracts worth tens of millions of dollars across multiple African countries.

The company has also generated more than $2.5 million in commercial revenue, a performance that executives say strengthened investor confidence and accelerated the latest funding round.

Meanwhile, Africa holds roughly 30 per cent of the world’s critical mineral reserves and spends an estimated $100 billion annually on infrastructure, much of it located in volatile or remote regions exposed to sabotage, illegal mining and militant attacks.

The firm in its quest to meet rising demand, plans to expand its manufacturing facility in Abuja, scale production to 40,000 drones annually, and deploy its systems across allied African markets.

The new capital will also support the recruitment of senior engineering and business leaders across Africa, London and San Francisco, as the company prepares for global expansion.

Terra in its quest to push beyond the continent, has partnered with Saudi industrial group AIC Steel to establish a joint manufacturing plant in Saudi Arabia, marking its first production base outside Africa while maintaining its focus on securing African infrastructure.