Chariot Defense Raises $34M for Battlefield Power
Chariot Defense, a startup focused on battlefield energy management, has closed a $34 million Series A funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz. The company is developing a platform to command and optimize distributed power sources like generators and batteries in tactical environments. The investment validates energy management as a critical component for expeditionary operations involving robotics and drone swarms.
- The company was founded by CEO Adam Warmoth, a Stanford-trained engineer who previously led counter-drone engineering at Anduril and served as Head of Product at Archer, and the team includes talent from Tesla and the U.S. Army. - Chariot's core product, the Amphora platform, is a software-defined system using high-voltage batteries and solid-state power electronics to reduce the thermal and acoustic signatures that make traditional generators vulnerable to detection. - The platform comes in multiple sizes, from the portable 5 kWh "Amphora 24" to the 315 kWh "Amphora 400," designed to power high-demand systems like directed energy weapons, air defense, and command and control centers. - This Series A funding brings Chariot's total capital raised to $41 million; the company's seed round was led by General Catalyst. - The company has already secured contracts with the U.S. Army and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), with its systems operationally deployed in contested environments. - Chariot demonstrated rapid early traction, moving from its initial seed funding to deploying equipment in force-on-force military exercises within six months and generating revenue within its first year. - The funding is earmarked to scale production of its hardware and accelerate the development of an operating system for commanding and controlling distributed electrical power on the battlefield. - The investment from Andreessen Horowitz aligns with the firm's "American Dynamism" thesis, which focuses on startups in critical sectors like defense and national security.
