Nigerian defence-technology startup Terra Industries has secured an additional $18 million in seed funding, bringing its total seed capital to $52 million. The round includes returning investors 8VC, Silent Ventures, Nova Global, Belief Capital and SV Angel, alongside new participants Norleo Space Investments and angel investor Grant Gordon.
Founded in 2024 by Nathan Nwachuku and Maxwell Maduka, Terra emerged from stealth in January 2026 with an $11.75 million round led by 8VC. The company develops autonomous systems designed to protect critical infrastructure across challenging environments, combining hardware with proprietary software.
The fresh capital will fund manufacturing expansion, accelerate deployments and support hiring across engineering, operations and business development. A centrepiece of this growth is the Pax-2 facility in Accra, Ghana — a 34,000-square-foot plant more than twice the size of Terra’s existing Abuja operation. The company expects the Ghana facility to become operational in the fourth quarter of 2026, targeting an annual production capacity of 50,000 systems by 2028.
Manufacturing will remain anchored in Africa as Terra pursues international markets across the Gulf, South America and South Asia. The company is also opening its first overseas office in London, with plans for additional operations in San Francisco and Washington, DC, to access defence institutions, technology talent and government partnerships.
Terra’s product portfolio includes the Archer drone, capable of 1,000-kilometre range and 13-hour endurance, and the Kama interceptor, which reaches speeds up to 300 kilometres per hour. The Kallon solar-powered sentry tower and Iroko surveillance quadcopter round out the hardware lineup. These systems operate through ArtemisOS, Terra’s proprietary platform that coordinates threat detection, mission planning and autonomous responses across land, air and maritime domains.
The expansion coincides with rising defence spending across African markets, where governments face growing security challenges from terrorism, organised crime and infrastructure threats. Terra’s strategy emphasises keeping manufacturing and data control within the regions it serves — an approach the company believes offers advantage in markets seeking greater technology sovereignty. Its systems already protect critical assets in several African countries.
