XTEND, a developer of tactical, autonomous robotics systems, has secured an extension to its $70 million Series B funding round launched last year.
The additional funding has brought the company, which shifted its focus to the defense sector following the October 7 massacre and its success during the war, to a total of $100m.
The investment was co-led by Aliya Capital Partners and Protego Ventures, with participation from Claltech, Union Tech Ventures, Chartered Group, and TAU Ventures. The funds will be allocated toward scaling production, expanding globally, and boosting research and development. XTEND recently opened a headquarters and manufacturing site in Tampa, Florida.
Perri Finkelstein, head of business development and value creation at Protego Ventures, explained that Protego works with businesses that can contribute “game-changing” technologies.
The goal of this defense venture capital, she said, is to “work with founders who are ready to scale abroad. We only work with Israeli-founded or -based companies” who have battle-proven technology.
“The world is at a crossroads, and at the end of the day, you need to see where the world is going,” Finkelstein said, adding that “if you want to build a long-term vision, you need to be laser-focused on your goal.”
XTEND transformation from a gaming company to a defense contractor
Sitting with The Jerusalem Post following the announcement, XTEND CEO Aviv Shapira explained how the Tel Aviv-based company went from winning Emmy Awards for its gaming technology to saving lives in Turkey and above and below the battlefields of the Gaza Strip, and even far from Israel’s borders.
“I guess I am the only rocket scientist to have two Emmy Awards,” said Shapira, who has a degree in rocket propulsion and who used to work for big Israeli defense companies, including Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Elbit Systems, and Israel Aerospace Industries.
XTEND was founded in 2018 by Shapira, Matteo Shapira, Rubi Liani, and Adir Tubi. 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 its drones and autonomous ground vehicles for various mission types using virtual reality/augmented reality interfaces and AI, including underground or other complex environments.
XTEND was 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 how his technology could help soldiers and developed a concept of operations where its drones enter the battlefield before the soldiers.
XTEND drones were instrumental in helping troops who arrived in devastated communities following October 7.
Shapira explained that while 80% of the company’s products are drones, 20% are ground platforms. All of its platforms are battle-proven, having mapped tunnels under the Gaza Strip and even intercepted Hezbollah drones in the North.
“Other companies are still testing their products, but we are proving ours during wartime,” he said, noting that not only have XTEND platforms been used in the war but also during Operation Rising Lion against Iran.
In the two years since the outbreak of the war, XTEND has sold thousands of platforms to the IDF and has continued to grow outside the Israeli market – mainly in the US, where they are in use by the US military, but also to the European (UK) and Asian markets (Singapore) who have recognized that the niche technology could be a game-changer for them as well.
The wars in Israel and Ukraine, as well as the tension in the South China Sea, have changed the view on defense spending across nations that had cut their expenditures since the end of the Cold War. While Western nations have come together to support Kyiv, many countries have recognized the need to modernize their armed forces.
And those nations have begun to understand the importance of drones on the battlefield.
“Anyone can operate our drones anywhere in the world,” Shapira said, explaining he was in Japan for a conference and operated his drones in Israel.
He continued, saying that as most countries prefer self-reliance rather than relying on others, XTEND is also exploring the options of growing with additional sites in India, Germany, the UK, and Japan.
Shapira explained that the company continues to expand the technology embedded in its platforms, as well as the sort of missions that they can carry out. It also allows end-users to place add-ons such as munitions, speakers, etc., onto the drones.
For the self-proclaimed “rocket scientist geek” who won Emmys for VR gaming technology, “It has been interesting to see how things evolve.”