Terra Industries, also known as Terrahaptix, just emerged from stealth and raised $11.75M in one of the largest early-stage defence tech rounds Africa has seen.
The company was founded in 2024 by Nathan Nwachuku (22) and Maxwell Maduka (24), and the round was led by 8VC (Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale), with backing from Lux Capital, Valor Equity Partners, SV Angel, and others.
Also Read: Zoom Announces “Solopreneur 50”: A First‑Ever Recognition for AI‑Powered US Solo Founders
What they’re building isn’t theoretical.
Terra designs and manufactures autonomous drones, sentry towers, and unmanned ground vehicles, all aimed at protecting critical African infrastructure like power plants, mines, and pipelines. Real hardware. Real AI. Real risks.
They already run a 15,000 sq ft facility in Abuja, have engineers with military experience, and have generated $2.5M+ in revenue since 2023.
The funding will scale manufacturing locally, grow engineering teams, and expand software operations in San Francisco and London.
The bigger signal here is simple.
Global capital is starting to back African-led deep tech that solves urgent, real-world problems. Not just apps. Not just fintech.
Founders building hard things should take note.
