Terra Industries, the Nigerian autonomous systems company, has raised another $18 million to close a $52 million seed round, giving the two-year-old startup fresh capital to expand manufacturing in Ghana and take its African defence-tech business into major global markets.
The new funding is significant not only because of its size, but because of where Terra is going next.
The company plans to open its first international office in London, establish a presence in Washington DC to support US government and industry engagement, and open an office in San Francisco. That gives Terra a footprint spanning its African manufacturing base and three of the world’s most important centres for defence, technology and venture capital.
The latest investment came from existing backers 8VC, Silent Ventures, Nova Global, Belief Capital and SV Angel, with Norleo Space Investments joining as a new investor.
Terra did not disclose its latest valuation. Chief executive officer Nathan Nwachuku said the company had reached a nine-figure valuation after a $22 million seed extension led by Lux Capital in February.
The funding marks another rapid step for a company founded in 2024 by Nwachuku and Chief Technology Officer Maxwell Maduka.
Terra initially raised $11.75 million in January from 8VC and other investors, before the $22 million extension. The latest $18 million takes total seed funding to about $52 million.
Read also: Terra builds Africa’s biggest drone factory in Ghana amid rising Sahel threats
From African factory to global offices
The most important part of the latest round may be what Terra is building around the money.
The company is expanding its Pax-2 manufacturing facility in Ghana, a 34,000-square-foot site that Terra describes as Africa’s largest drone factory. Once fully operational, the facility is expected to have capacity for as many as 50,000 autonomous systems a year.
That creates an unusual structure for an African technology company: manufacturing and much of the operational base remain in Africa, while commercial and government-facing operations are being developed in the US and Europe.
Terra says the additional funding will help it scale into other markets across the Global South and develop businesses alongside its defence deployments.
The strategy effectively puts Africa at the centre of Terra’s production plans while London, Washington and San Francisco become gateways to customers, partnerships, capital and government relationships.
That is a different ambition from building a Nigerian startup and later seeking foreign buyers. Terra is trying to build an African defence company with international reach from the start.
Washington is the strategic move
The planned Washington presence could prove particularly important.
The US remains the world’s largest defence market, while Washington is also home to the government agencies, policymakers and contractors that influence defence procurement and partnerships.
Terra says the DC presence will support US partnerships and government engagement. Its San Francisco office will place the company closer to the technology and venture-capital ecosystem that has helped drive investment in autonomous systems.
The London office provides a similar bridge into European markets. For Terra, the three-city expansion therefore appears designed less around traditional geographic growth and more around access to the institutions that can help turn an African defence manufacturer into a global company.
Building more than drones
Terra is also trying to avoid being defined as a drone maker. Its portfolio includes Archer, a vertical take-off and landing aircraft designed for long-range surveillance; Iroko, a smaller quadcopter; Kama, a high-speed interceptor; Kallon, a solar-powered surveillance tower; and Druma, an autonomous ground system.
Its ArtemisOS software is designed to coordinate operations across its hardware.
The company says its systems already protect about $11 billion in assets, mainly in the energy and mining sectors. It also says it is on track to record more than $100 million in contract bookings by the end of 2026, with revenue in the eight-figure range.
The immediate demand is largely for persistent monitoring and autonomous surveillance of critical infrastructure and high-value sites. That gives Terra a commercial market outside military procurement, while its counter-drone and interceptor products give it a route deeper into defence.
Africa’s defence gap is the opening
Terra’s expansion is built around a wider argument: African countries should have greater control over the technology used to protect their borders, infrastructure and strategic assets.
The company has argued that governments across Africa have historically relied on foreign defence systems from China, Europe and elsewhere, creating dependence on equipment that may be difficult to maintain locally and raising questions about control of sensitive data.
Its vertically integrated model, which is combining hardware, software and manufacturing, is intended to address that problem.
The company has already moved beyond Nigeria. Its Ghana factory is its first manufacturing operation outside the country, while a joint venture signed with Middle Eastern infrastructure contractor AIC Steel has opened a route into Saudi Arabia.
The significance of that expansion is that Terra is no longer selling only the idea of an African defence startup. It is testing whether African-built defence technology can become an export business.
The next test is execution
The $52 million gives Terra substantial capital for a company founded only two years ago, but the funding also raises expectations.
The company now needs to complete and scale Pax-2, turn its contract pipeline into actual deliveries and revenue, and demonstrate that its autonomous systems can perform reliably across difficult operating environments.
It also has to compete with established defence suppliers from China, Russia, Europe and the US, many of which have far deeper manufacturing capacity and government relationships.
That makes the London, Washington and San Francisco offices more than a symbol of global ambition.
They are part of Terra’s attempt to connect an African defence manufacturing base with the capital, technology, partnerships and government relationships needed to compete internationally.
If the strategy works, Terra’s biggest achievement may not be raising $52 million. It may be proving that a defence technology company can be built in Africa, manufactured in Africa and still compete for business in the world’s biggest defence markets.
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Royal Ibeh is a senior journalist with years of experience reporting on Nigeria’s technology and health sectors. She currently covers the Technology and Health beats for BusinessDay newspaper, where she writes in-depth stories on digital innovation, telecom infrastructure, healthcare systems, and public health policies.
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