The startup Deterrence secured more than $10 million in funding to accelerate production of a hardware-software platform that uses machine learning and robotics to improve worker safety, product quality, and scalability.
FREMONT, Calif. and WASHINGTON—Deterrence, a defense technology company aiming to automate the production of energetics, recently announced a total of $10.1 million in funding after closing a seed round led by Riot Ventures.
The funding is expected to help accelerate production of Deterrence’s hardware-software platform, scale research and development, and expand its operational capabilities, the company said in a release.
Deterrence builds what it described as “ultra-scalable, ultra-flexible, ultra-precise manufacturing capacity for critical energetics—the explosives, propellants, and pyrotechnic materials that enable the high-energy effects needed for all weapon systems.” The company’s hardware-software platform is reported to fully automates production, and it uses machine learning and robotics to improve worker safety, product quality, and scalability, the release stated.
According to Deterrence, a critical need exists in government and private markets to modernize energetics production, primarily because the current antiquated supply chain is a national security concern. Yet, the manufacturing process hasn’t changed in almost 100 years, creating high lead times, unreliable products, unsafe working environments, and jeopardizing the resilience of the American industrial base.
“We need to take an entirely different approach. At Deterrence, we’re not simply automating existing processes—we’re creating a new paradigm for how critical energetics components are manufactured,” said Deterrence CEO and Co-Founder Dhruva Rajendra, in the release. “We are innovating in a way that improves quality and precision and accelerates our ability to get new technology into the hands of the warfighter.”
Deterrence’s production process is described as “seamlessly interconnected, enabling optimization and adaptability from raw materials to finished products.”
By supporting touch controls and object manipulation, the platform’s design is said to address the core challenges of energetics manufacturing, including handling hazardous materials, cleaning, mixing, and ensuring quality. Machine learning plays a pivotal role by enhancing real-time troubleshooting and generating insights to better understand changes as they happen, the company said.
Adding to this capability is Deterrence’s robotic sensor platform, which is said to provide unparalleled traceability and reliability, detecting issues imperceptible to the human eye. The key differentiator is the platform’s agility—effortlessly reconfiguring and adapting to shifting supply and demand while maintaining speed and scalability.
“Energetics is a critical, high-impact sector tied directly to national security,” said Will Coffield, co-founder and general partner of Riot Ventures, in the release. “Deterrence’s platform addresses key industry and defense sector challenges—cutting costs, scaling production, increasing precision and quality, and strengthening supply chains. Deterrence is changing the game, and we are proud to partner with the team to drive this mission forward.”
Deterrence’s goal is to not only close the widening gap between the U.S. and its peer adversaries but also to create a platform for future invention and innovation in chemistry and materials.
“Revitalizing our Defense Industrial Base (DIB) and injecting it with a greater level of resiliency requires the creation of an ecosystem that lowers the barriers of entry for our non-traditional defense industry partners, such as Deterrence,” said BG (Ret.) Alfred Abramson III, Picatinny Arsenal, Joint Program Executive Officer Armaments & Ammunition and the Commanding General, in the release. “I have no doubt Deterrence will bring fresh ideas, innovative approaches, and over-the-horizon technologies as part of the defense enterprise. This will result in greater capabilities, achieved much more rapidly, for our warfighters for the foreseeable future.”
Also contributing to the funding were Definition Capital, Impatient Ventures, Valhalla Ventures, Banter Capital, and Dmitri Alperovitch.
Deterrence was founded by Dhruva Rajendra, CEO, and Brian Jones, COO, former co-founders of Latch, and Henry Olgers, head of manufacturing, who was previously a team lead for 4680 battery cell manufacturing at Tesla. The Deterrence team also includes top engineers and operators from leading tech companies like Palantir, AWS Robotics, Rivian, and Rheinmetall, as well as veterans and special forces experts with extensive government and military experience, the release stated.