Fortem Raises $50 Million to Double Manufacturing and Bookings

Fortem Technologies has raised $50 million in a Series B, with Lockheed Martin participating. CEO Jon Gruen said the capital will support several simultaneous expansion targets: doubling manufacturing this year, doubling bookings, and adding 250% of manufacturing floor space.

Those targets put production capacity alongside sales growth in Fortem’s near-term priorities. Gruen said the company has to deliver at a scale it has never reached before while continuing to develop products against changing threats. He did not describe the funding as earmarked for one particular part of that effort; he said the manufacturing and floor-space expansion require capital.

The Lockheed relationship, as Gruen described it, has grown from investment into work on applicable projects. Fortem first engaged with Lockheed’s venture team when it was at an earlier stage. Gruen said that team validated Fortem’s core technologies and, after investing, gave the company exposure to the broader corporation. That access helped Fortem find projects suited to its technology.

He characterized the current investment as a reflection of market traction and the capabilities of Fortem’s integrated products. The progression matters to the company’s plans: Gruen pointed to partnerships as part of the route from developing technology to finding projects where it can be used. The initial venture relationship, in his account, opened access inside Lockheed; Fortem then had to identify projects where its technology applied.

Fortem’s products address a market that Gruen said is bought and budgeted separately from drones themselves. Drone and counter-drone capabilities are typically different budget line items, purchased by different customer groups. The distinction matters because a rise in drone spending does not, by itself, describe counter-drone spending: the capabilities sit in separate budget and purchasing channels.

Gruen described the relationship between offensive drones and defenses as a “cat and mouse game.” As threats develop, he said, defensive technology has to stay out in front. But effective defense is not a one-for-one answer to each drone. It requires layers of sensors and effectors to respond to threats that can change.

Gruen’s explanation was paired with on-screen examples of those layers. A Fortem graphic described the company as building counter-drone radar and autonomous interceptors, and said its DroneHunter uses nets to capture hostile drones. Footage showed a DroneHunter aircraft and another drone carrying a tether or net mechanism. A SkyDome interface displayed drone positions and flight paths, with controls labeled “Live,” “History,” and “Config,” as well as a “Current Activity” view and “DroneHunters.” These materials show the types of systems and interface Fortem presented; Gruen’s point was that defense depends on combining sensors and effectors rather than matching each threat with a single interceptor. The graphic also said Fortem systems were deployed in Ukraine, the Middle East and East Asia.

Gruen said Fortem had been in the war zones he referenced for four to five years and had learned “all those hard lessons.” He described the company as using that experience to develop technologies and products for future warfare. He also said it has to take data and apply it to new products to stay ahead of the offensive threat curve.

Asked how an American company can do business with Western and NATO allies, Gruen pointed to partnerships, including Lockheed Martin internationally. He said customers will buy from a company with the right product, while also describing enduring partnerships around the world as important to continuing what Fortem has built there. Ed Ludlow called partnerships the sales channel; Gruen’s answer also emphasized that the product itself has to be good enough to win customers.

The priorities he laid out are connected, but distinct: Fortem must stay ahead of demand for its products and develop new products as the threat changes. Gruen said that means delivering at a scale the company has not reached before, using data in product development, and building partnerships to deploy at scale. He framed the work as both an operational challenge—expanding manufacturing and meeting the company’s bookings target—and a continuing effort to keep defensive technology ahead of evolving offensive threats.