Africa’s defence tech sector got a strategic boost after Nigeria’s Terra Industries raised $11.75 million from global investors. The funding round was led by 8VC, the Silicon Valley firm co-founded by Palantir’s Joe Lonsdale.
The Abuja-based startup, formerly known as Terrahaptix, is building what it calls Africa’s first defence technology prime—a vertically integrated company capable of designing, manufacturing, and deploying autonomous security systems at scale.
Founded in 2024 by Nathan Nwachuku (22) and Maxwell Maduka (24), Terra’s flagship product is ArtemisOS, an AI-powered operating system that enables real-time threat detection, classification, and response across land and air domains. The system can identify everything from armed bandits to ammunition levels and movement patterns, and is already in use across multiple African countries.
Terra says it currently helps secure infrastructure assets valued at over $11 billion across the continent, including the Geometric Power Plant in Aba, two hydropower stations in northern Nigeria, and gold and lithium mining operations in northern Nigeria and Ghana. While its existing contracts focus on infrastructure protection, the company is rapidly expanding into cross-border surveillance and counterterrorism as regional instability escalates.
The company’s portfolio includes long- and mid-range drones, autonomous sentry towers, and unmanned ground vehicles, all manufactured at its 15,000-square-foot facility in Abuja. With 75% of its sales outside Nigeria, Terra is positioning itself as a regional player in a sector long dominated by foreign contractors.
The new capital will fund expanded manufacturing capacity, cross-border deployments, and engineering and software capabilities, as the company eyes broader applications in counterterrorism, critical infrastructure protection, and border security.
“Africa is industrializing faster than any other region, with new mines, refineries and power plants emerging every month,” said Nwachuku in a company statement. “But none of that progress will matter if we don’t solve the continent’s greatest Achilles’ heel, which is insecurity and terrorism.”
The round attracted a heavyweight roster of global and Africa-focused investors, including Lux Capital, SV Angel, Valor Equity Partners, Nova Global, Tofino Capital, Kaleo Ventures, and DFS Lab. Alex Moore, Defence Partner at 8VC and a board director at Palantir, has since joined Terra’s board, taking a seat last year.
“Nathan and Maxwell have assembled a brilliant team to tackle a vital problem for the continent,” Moore said in the announcement. “We are excited to support their mission.”
Investor interest intensified after Terra’s work gained international attention, including a feature on CNN, which spotlighted the startup’s role in developing indigenous solutions to Africa’s evolving security challenges.
As jihadist violence escalates across the Sahel, Terra’s latest funding bolsters its position as a timely alternative to foreign defence contractors, offering African-made systems that are faster to deploy, easier to adapt, and built for the continent’s realities.
