Israeli drone company XTEND will begin trading on Nasdaq this Friday at a valuation of $1.5 billion after a share merger with New York-listed JFB Construction Holdings.
The combined company will then be renamed XTEND AI Robotics Inc and the stock will begin trading under the symbol “XTND” on Saturday, September 4, 2026. The company’s senior executives will participate in ringing the opening bell on the NYSE on September 8.
XTEND was founded in 2018 by brothers Aviv and Matteo Shapira, Rubi Liani, and Adir Tubi.
Strategic investors in the merger signed in February between XTEND and JFB include Eric Trump, Protego Ventures, Unusual Machines (NYSE: UMAC), American Ventures, Tel Aviv University's venture fund TAU Ventures, Aliya Capital, and Agostinelli Group. Trump acts as an adviser to drone maker Unusual Machines.
"This is an exciting and defining moment for XTEND and especially for the people who built it and believed in our path from the very beginning,” said Aviv Shapira, the co-founder and CEO of XTEND. “Becoming a publicly traded company is a significant milestone in a journey that began less than a decade ago in Israel. It enables us to accelerate growth, continue to push the boundaries of technology, and bring our systems to more people, organizations, and missions around the world."
From gaming company to drone operator to a broader robotic systems platform
The company specializes in human-guided autonomous machine systems for defense applications. With its products, XTEND aims to enable pilots to control and interact with drones and autonomous ground vehicles for various mission types using VR/AR interfaces and AI, including in underground or other complex environments.
XTEND was originally founded as a gaming company that used drone-based extended reality technology, along with virtual reality, to simulate flight in video games. But on October 7, Shapira realized his technology could help IDF soldiers and developed a new concept of operations (CONOPS) in which their drones enter the battlefield before the soldiers.
"Our systems were born from a reality in which humans are required to enter dangerous and complex environments every day, and from the understanding that technology can and should change this equation. For us, autonomy is not about replacing humans, but about expanding their ability to operate while reducing their exposure to danger. As a public company, we now have a greater opportunity and a greater responsibility to advance this vision and build the next generation of Physical AI and use it to make the world safer,” Shapira said.
XTEND’s technology is built around its XTEND Operating System (XOS), which the company describes as an open-architecture platform for controlling and coordinating robotic systems. The company’s portfolio spans drones, ground robots and robotic subsystems, with software providing mission management, operator control and autonomous capabilities.
The company says it has deployed over 12,500 systems in the field across more than 30 countries, with its technology used in five combat zones to address modern battlefield threats. XTEND was founded in Tel Aviv and is now headquartered in Tampa, Florida, where it operates a US production facility. Its manufacturing network also includes facilities in Israel, the UK, Singapore, and Latvia. The company employs close to 300 people, with over half in Israel.
XTEND says its products are NDAA-compliant and that the merger will support expansion of its US manufacturing capacity to scale its AI-powered robotic platforms for defense, law enforcement, and security customers.