Palantir Technologies Inc. co-founder Joe Lonsdale led investors betting on a little-known Nigerian defense startup that’s expanding drone manufacturing as violent extremism spreads across Africa.
Terrahaptix Inc. said it raised $11.8 million in a round that Lonsdale-founded 8VC led.
Alex Moore, who focuses on defense investments at 8VC and is a non-executive director at Palantir, joined the board of the drone maker also known as Terra Industries last year, the company said in a statement on Monday.
Founded in 2024 by Nathan Nwachuku, 22, and Maxwell Maduka, 24, Abuja-based Terra produces long- and mid-range drones, autonomous sentry towers and unmanned ground vehicles.
The equipment helps secure infrastructure assets valued at about $11 billion across Africa, including hydropower plants in Nigeria, as well as gold- and lithium-mining operations in Ghana, it said.
“Africa is industrializing faster than any other region, with new mines, refineries and power plants emerging every month,” said Nwachuku. “But none of that progress will matter if we don’t solve the continent’s greatest Achilles’ heel, which is insecurity and terrorism.”
The new funding will be used to expand Terra’s manufacturing capacity as it expands into cross-border security and counter-terrorism, the company said.
Valor Equity Partners, Lux Capital, SV Angel, Leblon Capital GmbH, Silent Ventures LLC, Nova Global and angel investors including Meyer Malka — the managing partner of Ribbit Capital — are among those involved.
Valor, like 8VC, is an investor in California defense startup Anduril Industries Inc., and both firms have also backed SpaceX and Palantir separately.
Their participation connects Terra to a group of investors that have supported several of the most prominent companies in the global defense and security sector.
Terra Industries designs, builds, and manufactures its systems on the continent, with the bulk of its engineering team comprising people who are African.
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