Cambridge Aerospace: 3 rounds in a year to $3.4bn

Cambridge Aerospace was founded in late 2024. In August it raised $300 million at a $3.4 billion valuation. 3 rounds in roughly a year.

The rounds

• July 2025. $100 million Series A at $400 million. Accel, Lakestar, Lux Capital and D3.

• Series B. $200 million at around $1.3 billion, with Elad Gil and Spark Capital.

• August 2026. $300 million Series C at $3.4 billion, led by DFJ Growth.

What they build

A tube-launched interceptor called Skyhammer. Turbojet engine, wings that unfold after launch, 30km range, 700km/h, around 18kg, under a metre long. Built to bring down Shahed-type attack drones.

Development started in January 2025. First flight tests were completed within 6 weeks. By April the UK MoD had moved to procure it.

The economics are the reason

The speed is the headline. The economics are the reason. Air defence has an arithmetic problem. You cannot keep intercepting drones that cost a few thousand with missiles that cost a few million. You win the engagement and lose on cost, every time. That maths has been the quiet crisis in European air defence for 3 years.

A company attacking the cost side of that equation is not building a better missile. It is fixing a budget line every defence ministry in Europe is staring at. Which is how a business that did not exist 2 years ago is worth $3.4 billion.

Worth noting who was in at Series A. D3 was on the list of European defence funds I posted a few weeks back, writing cheques before the valuation ran.