Axios Exclusive: Defense Firm Overland AI Raises $32 Million

Overland AI raised $32 million in Series A funding and, on the heels of the round, is debuting its OverWatch software that lets a single person coordinate a fleet of smart machines.

Why it matters: The Pentagon is clamoring for reliable robots and means to supervise them. But ground autonomy is incredibly difficult to get right.

Overland CEO Byron Boots told Axios the millions will be used to hire more people, sharpen software development and wade into hardware.

• "I know there are a lot of folks who are working on drones and on unmanned aerial vehicles and surface vessels, but there are comparatively fewer in the ground autonomy space," Boots said.
• Other players include Applied Intuition Defense, Forterra, Kodiak Robotics and Neya Systems.
• "You can imagine, the more complex the environment, the harder this gets," Boots said.

Follow the money: The round was led by 8VC, which also works with Anduril Industries, Epirus, Joby Aviation, Palantir Technologies and Saronic.

• Joe Lonsdale, the managing partner at 8VC, told Axios that Overland is postured to become "the next great defense prime."
• Point72 Ventures, Overmatch Ventures, Shasta Ventures, Ascend, Osage University Partners and Caprock participated.

Flashback: Overland partnered with L3Harris Technologies, the 10th largest contractor in the world by defense revenue, on the Diamondback autonomous ground vehicle.

• It was unveiled in October at the Association of the U.S. Army conference.