Israeli defense-tech startup Kela is finalising a roughly $200 million financing round at a $1.2 billion valuation, the company has confirmed. The round is co-led by Stripes and D1 Capital Partners, with participation from existing investors Sequoia and Lux Capital, and new backers including Bill Ackman and former Google chairman Eric Schmidt.
An operating system for the modern battlefield
Kela was founded in 2023 by Unit 8200 and Talpiot alumni, and is building an open, modular operating system designed to connect and orchestrate the many components of modern military operations. The platform aggregates data from sensors, drones and weapons systems in real time, and presents a unified command interface that lets operators task assets across air, land and sea.
Riding a defense-tech surge
Kela''s raise lands as defense-tech valuations climb across the board. Anduril doubled its valuation to $61 billion in May, Saronic closed a $1.75 billion Series D, and Mach Industries raised $300 million earlier this week. Pentagon spending on autonomous systems and software-defined warfare is now widely viewed as a structural growth story.
Existing traction
Kela reported about $20 million in revenue in 2025 and says it signed more than $50 million in contracts last year, much of it tied to NATO and Indo-Pacific allies. The company has previously raised about $100 million across earlier rounds, including from the CIA-backed In-Q-Tel.
What's next
The new funding will accelerate Kela''s U.S. expansion, including a Washington, D.C. office and certifications for Department of Defense customers. The company is also growing its London engineering hub to support European deployments.
Reporting based on coverage from Calcalist (Ctech), Globes and The Jerusalem Post.