XTEND’s Drone Hive is an instance of its autonomous protection expertise. Supply: XTEND
XTEND Actuality Inc. right now introduced that Aliya Capital Companions and Protego Ventures have co-led a strategic $30 million extension to its $70 million Sequence B funding spherical. The developer of tactical autonomous robots mentioned it plans to make use of the financing to scale up U.S. and world manufacturing, combine real-time synthetic intelligence capabilities throughout its platforms, and broaden deployments with U.S. and allied protection forces.
“The profitable completion of our Sequence B financing highlights the surging demand for mission-critical autonomous techniques from allied protection and public security companies,” acknowledged Aviv Shapira, CEO of XTEND. “The backing from Aliya and Protego isn’t nearly recent capital—it’s a strong vote of confidence.”
Based as a gaming firm, XTEND has developed robots and autonomous techniques that use AI and human steerage to function exactly and safely in complicated and unsafe environments. The Tel Aviv, Israel-based firm claimed that its patented XOS working system can improve the operator’s talents, decreasing the necessity for direct bodily confrontation and minimizing casualties and accidents.
XTEND mentioned customers together with the U.S. Division of Protection, Singapore, Europe, the U.Ok., and the Israel Protection Pressure have deployed 1000’s of drones, robotic canine, and marine techniques worldwide.
XTEND develops ‘human-supervised autonomy’
“Our XOS working system is predicated on ‘human-supervised autonomy,’ which empowers robots to deal with complicated duties autonomously –coming into buildings, scanning flooring, and even pursuing suspects,” Shapira informed The Robotic Report. “Nevertheless, crucially, it permits the ‘widespread sense’ selections — like judging conditions or adapting to unexpected circumstances — to stay within the arms of human supervisors.”
XTEND’s analysis and improvement crew is frequently including new AI expertise to the system to permit robots to deal with a rising portion of missions and duties. Shapira mentioned the purpose is to liberate human supervisors to handle extra missions and to distance individuals from harmful conditions.
“For instance, a latest replace to XOS provides a single person the flexibility to handle a crew of robots performing subtasks autonomously, similar to patrolling indoor environments and searching for threats,” he famous. “This eliminates the necessity for ‘steady handbook operation,’ which means human supervisors not have to continuously management every robotic’s motion. This can be a game-changer for non-robotics specialists like troopers, cops, constructing engineers, and firefighters.”
As well as, XTEND’s deal with human-machine collaboration allows supervisors to handle dozens of robots concurrently and permits robots to study from these experiences, Shapira mentioned. XOS additionally reduces coaching necessities, he defined.
“With XOS, even professionals with out in depth robotics coaching can now oversee complicated missions with higher ease,” asserted Shapira. “In truth, XOS reduces drone operation coaching time by 99%, permitting pilots with no prior expertise to attain mastery in as little as 5 minutes.”
“Our system automates subtasks whereas protecting the supervisor in management,” he added. “Think about a firefighter directing a crew of robots to discover a burning constructing, or a police officer coordinating drones to look a big space for a suspect. XOS empowers these professionals to leverage robotic help with out turning into robotics specialists themselves.”
Aliya CEO joins XTEND board
Aliya Capital Companions and Protego Ventures joined taking part buyers, together with Len Blavatnik’s Claltech, Union-Tech Ventures, and Chartered Group. As a part of this transaction, Ross Kestlin, founding companion and CEO of Aliya Capital Companions, has joined XTEND’s board of administrators.
“XTEND’s mission — to ship cutting-edge drone and robotics techniques for high-risk, mission-critical environments — aligns instantly with our imaginative and prescient of supporting applied sciences that shield and improve life,” mentioned Kestin. “We’re honored to again Aviv and his world-class crew and assist speed up the impression of their expertise throughout protection, safety, and emergency response sectors.”
Aliya Capital Companions has experience throughout protection tech, AI, autonomy, and nationwide safety. The Miami-based funding agency mentioned it backs firms “on the intersection of superior expertise and world security.”
“Ross’s expertise and strategic perspective are invaluable in navigating this pivotal development section,” mentioned Shapira. “Moreover, opening our Tampa headquarters is a serious step ahead as we proceed to construct cutting-edge techniques that shield lives worldwide.”
XTEND opens new U.S. headquarters
With this Sequence B funding, XTEND plans to scale up U.S. and world manufacturing. The firm additionally plans to supply its techniques for humanitarian and emergency response efforts.
The announcement follows the July 1 grand opening of XTEND’s new U.S. headquarters and superior drone manufacturing facility in Tampa, Fla. The occasion introduced collectively authorities, army, and business leaders. The corporate is hiring, mentioned Shapira.
“This milestone represents the conclusion of XTEND’s imaginative and prescient to carry our groundbreaking applied sciences nearer to the U.S. protection ecosystem,” Dr. Peter Kash, chairman of the board of XTEND. “With this facility, we’re laying the muse for sustained development, high-tech job creation, and significant contributions to America’s safety and industrial capabilities.”
“The grand opening of XTEND’s Tampa facility represents greater than a bodily enlargement—it marks a brand new section of operational scale, U.S. engagement, and world relevance,” mentioned Lee Moser, co-founder and common companion of Protego Ventures.
Protego Ventures is an Israel-based protection enterprise capital fund investing in breakthrough applied sciences to handle right now’s most pressing protection and safety challenges, together with drones, AI and machine studying, sensors, and aerial defenses.
XTEND supplies autonomous and human guided techniques to the U.S. and its allies. Supply: XTEND
Buyers see tech potential
“When investing in firms, you usually meet the founders, the administration crew, the expertise—and naturally, dive into the digital information room,” recalled Avi Fischer, chairman of Clal Industries and Claltech. “However with XTEND, we did one thing way more vital.’
“On our very first go to, we walked right into a room with over 50 finish customers, all being skilled on the system,” he mentioned. “What satisfied us to speculate wasn’t simply the tech — it was their suggestions. They spoke about how the system has saved lives, how AI-driven coaching minimize studying time by 99%, and the way this expertise is already altering the battlefield. That’s once we knew we needed to be a part of this.”
XTEND is transitioning from a platforms-based mannequin to a software-oriented, robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) method, the place techniques might be upgraded with extra superior capabilities, mentioned Shapira.
