Nigerian startup closes Africa's largest seed round at $52 million
Terra Industries raised an additional $18 million, extending its seed round to $52 million and paving the way for a London office and scaled manufacturing.
Terra Industries, a Nigerian defence-technology startup building autonomous security systems, has raised an additional $18 million, closing Africa's largest seed round at $52 million, according to a company announcement on August 17, 2026.
The round drew new investors Norleo Space Investments and angel investor Grant Gordon, alongside existing backers 8VC, Silent Ventures, Nova Global, Belief Capital, and SV Angel, the company said in a statement reported by Weetracker and Terra's own newsroom.
What the capital will fund
Terra said it will use the money to open its first international office in London, expand manufacturing capacity, accelerate deployment of its products across the Global South, and grow its engineering, operations, and business development teams. CEO Nathan Nwachuku clarified in a LinkedIn post that the London office will house operations and AI teams, while manufacturing remains at its defence plants in Abuja and Accra.
"Terra Industries raises additional $18M bringing total seed to $52M. This round was done by existing investors like 8VC, Silent Ventures, SV Angel, Nova Global, Belief Capital, and Grant Gordon. We're also opening our first global office in London for our Ops and AI teams, while manufacturing still remains in our Abuja & Accra defense plants," Nwachuku wrote.
How the round stacks up
The $52 million total makes Terra's seed financing one of the largest—if not the largest—early-stage rounds in African defence technology, a figure standing far above typical African seed cheques, according to Weetracker and African Economy Inc. The startup previously raised an $11.75 million seed led by 8VC in January 2026, then a $22 million bridge round led by Lux Capital in February that brought its disclosed total to $34 million, as reported by TechCrunch and Tectonic Defense.
At the $34 million stage, Nwachuku told Tectonic Defense the company was valued at a "nine-figure valuation"—meaning at least $100 million. Terra was founded in 2024 by Nwachuku and Maxwell Maduka, and was previously known as Terrahaptix before rebranding, according to CNN.
What Terra builds
Terra's product suite includes long-range and VTOL drones like the Archer, autonomous sentry towers such as Kallon capable of tracking threats up to three kilometres with 24/7 solar-powered coverage, unmanned ground vehicles, and maritime surveillance systems. These are underpinned by ArtemisOS, its proprietary software platform that aggregates sensor data and uses AI to identify potential threats, as detailed by EuropeSays and Resilience Media.
The company has active deployments securing hydropower plants in northern Nigeria and gold and lithium mining operations in Nigeria and Ghana, protecting critical infrastructure worth roughly $11 billion across the continent. In April 2026, Terra publicly demonstrated interceptor drones, mine-detection vehicles, and battlefield intelligence software to senior military and government officials in Nigeria, TRT Afrika reported.
The round underscores growing US investor appetite for African deep-tech and defence ventures. 8VC, founded by Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, led the initial seed, and the firm's continued participation across all three tranches signals sustained Silicon Valley conviction in Terra's model, as noted by TechCabal in its January 2026 coverage of US investors backing African defence tech.
