$300m · Series C · Cybersecurity, Defence · Cambridge, UK
Cambridge Aerospace, the British air-defence company behind the Skyhammer interceptor, has raised $300m in Series C funding led by DFJ Growth. The company named Lux Capital, Elad Gil & Co, Lakestar, Accel, Never Lift, Ora Global, Spark Capital and Global Founders Capital among its backers. Chief executive Steven Barrett said the capital will go into manufacturing capacity, test campaigns and hiring as the company scales Skyhammer and develops Starhammer.
The round values Cambridge Aerospace at $3.4bn. Cambridge Aerospace said it has now raised more than $600m. The financing follows a $200m Series B reported in April, compressing two large production-oriented rounds into four months.
Production capacity is the commercial bottleneck
Cambridge Aerospace is building a layered air-defence portfolio around interceptors and sensing. Skyhammer is designed to counter Shahed-style attack drones and cruise missiles; the UK Ministry of Defence says it has a range of 30km and a maximum speed of 700km/h. Starhammer is aimed at faster missile threats, while Looking Glass provides radar capability.
The customer problem is an economic one as much as an engineering one. Cheap, mass-produced drones can force defenders to spend far more on each interception. Cambridge Aerospace is betting that a lower-cost interceptor, produced in volume, can improve that exchange. The company already has a multi-million-pound UK government contract covering missiles, launchers, integration, technical support and training. A separate Ministry of Defence programme awarded Cambridge Aerospace and two other suppliers £3.16m to develop and trial low-cost interceptors.
That makes manufacturing yield, reliability and delivery cadence part of the product. More factory capacity is useful only if Cambridge Aerospace can keep unit costs low while meeting military qualification and test requirements. Barrett's emphasis on test campaigns and reliability is therefore commercially significant: government buyers need systems that can be replenished at scale, not just successful demonstrations.
Capital arrives before the full product range is mature
Skyhammer has moved into procurement, but the wider roadmap still carries execution risk. Cambridge Aerospace expects Starhammer to reach the market in 2027. The Series C must therefore fund two jobs at once: expand output for existing contracts and continue product development for the next layer of air defence.
The $3.4bn valuation puts a high price on that transition. The near-term proof will not be another funding milestone, but whether the company can convert its contracts and test programme into repeatable production without losing the cost advantage that underpins its pitch.
