Facts

• Segment: Defense
• Country: United States
• Founded: 2021
• Website: https://www.darkhive.com

Profile sections

• Summary
• Market context
• Facts
• Funding
• Investors
• Commercial
• Context / Market Position
• Events
• Team
• Supply chain relationships
• Relationships
• Customers and deployments
• Sources

Summary

Darkhive develops U. S. -made autonomous drone systems for defence and public-safety users. Its work spans uncrewed aircraft, autonomy software, edge-device management and manufacturing infrastructure for small tactical drones and networked robotic systems.

Market context

Darkhive sits in the part of the defense robotics market where low-cost tactical uncrewed systems and field-ready software are being pushed from pilot activity into real procurement. Its recent contract and funding traction suggest it is becoming a more serious supplier rather than just an early-stage prototype company.

Facts

• Website: https://www.darkhive.com
• HQ: San Antonio, United States
• Founded: 2021
• Segment: Defense
• Known funding rounds: 1

Funding

• 2024-09-10 - Series A - $21M - Darkhive raises $21 million Series A led by Ten Eleven Ventures - source: govtech.com

Investors

• Crosslink Capital - Participant - Vc - 1 funding event - first seen 2024-09-10
• RTX Ventures - Participant - Corporate / Cvc - 1 funding event - strategic/corporate - first seen 2024-09-10
• Stellar Ventures - Participant - Vc - 1 funding event - first seen 2024-09-10
• Ten Eleven Ventures - Lead - Vc - 1 funding event - first seen 2024-09-10

Commercial

2 commercial events; 2 contract awards; 2 named customers; $50. 7M disclosed obligated value; latest event 2026-03-31

• 2026-03-31 - Contract award - Darkhive secures $49.7 million APFIT contract for tactical-edge command and control - U.S. Department of Defense - Real-Time Command and Control at the Tactical Edge - $49.7M obligated - so…
• 2023-08-17 - Contract award - Darkhive awarded $1 million contract by the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense - Office of the Undersecretary of Defense - $1M obligated - source: prnewswire.com

Tactical uncrewed systems company

Darkhive develops tactical uncrewed systems, human-machine interfaces and secure software delivery tools for defence users.

• Target environment: Defence field operations, public-safety missions, remote tactical environments and small-UAS deployment settings.
• Deployment model: Defence hardware and software systems supplied through tactical UAS products, edge device management and software platforms.
• Customer context: Military units, public-safety users, defence agencies and operators needing deployable small unmanned systems.
• Workflow context: Tactical reconnaissance, situational awareness, uncrewed system deployment, edge software delivery and mission support.
• Commercial maturity: Early commercial defence robotics company with U.S.-made tactical UAS and software platform activity.
• Market position: Defence robotics company focused on tactical unmanned systems and edge device management.
• Adoption constraints: Adoption depends on field reliability, procurement, operator training, software security, production scale and mission validation.
• Adjacent context: Adjacent context includes tactical drones, edge-managed UAS, defence autonomy, public-safety robotics and secure mission software.
• Source confidence: high

Events

• 2026-03-31 - Contract Award - Darkhive secures $49.7 million APFIT contract for tactical-edge command and control - The Pentagon awarded Darkhive a $49.7 million APFIT contract tied to the Army's Real-Time Command and C…
• 2024-09-10 - Funding - Darkhive raises $21 million Series A led by Ten Eleven Ventures - Darkhive announced a $21 million Series A to expand drone manufacturing and support defense contract execution
• 2023-08-17 - Contract Award - Darkhive awarded $1 million contract by the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense - Darkhive received a $1 million contract from the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense
• 2023-07-06 - Award - Darkhive wins $5 million AFWERX Phase III SBIR contract for advanced drone autonomy - Darkhive won a $5 million Phase III SBIR contract through the US Air Force AFWERX Autonomy Prime program

Team

• John Goodson - Co-Founder and CEO
• Steve Turner - Co-founder and CTO

Supply chain relationships

• Doodle Labs - Helix Mesh Rider Radio - Doodle Labs Helix Mesh Rider radio is integrated into Darkhive Yellowjacket tactical drone systems.

Relationships

• tactical-edge procurement customer - Darkhive received a $49.7 million Pentagon APFIT contract for autonomous drone and tactical-edge command-and-control fielding.
• Lead investor - Ten Eleven Ventures led Darkhive's Series A round.
• Participant - Crosslink Capital participated in Darkhive's Series A round.
• Participant - RTX Ventures participated in Darkhive's Series A round.
• Participant - Stellar Ventures participated in Darkhive's Series A round.

Customers and deployments

• Contract Value Usd - $49.7 million APFIT contract - 2026-03-31 - Pentagon / U.S. Army - autonomous drone command-and-control procurement - The Pentagon awarded Darkhive a $49.7 million APFIT contract tied to autonomous…