Mara raises $7 million for autonomous defense against FPV drones
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US defense tech startup Mara has closed a pre-seed funding round of $7 million. With its system Spike, the young company aims to combat specifically small, agile drones that are shaping modern conflicts. The round was led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from a16z Speedrun, Night Capital, Palmdrive, Protagonist, Freedom Fund, and Indicator Fund, as well as angel investors. The startup was founded by Daniel Kofman and Sriram Raghu in October 2024.
Fighting cheap small drones
So-called “FPV” drones (“First-Person-View”) cost just a few hundred dollars and can nevertheless cause significant damage. Most existing drone defense systems, however, are geared more toward large, high-flying targets traveling on predictable trajectories. Small FPV drones launch from anywhere, attack in swarms from multiple angles simultaneously, and increasingly use fiber-optic control links or onboard guidance systems to evade traditional electronic countermeasures.
Following Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb in June 2025, it became clear that FPV drones can destroy strategic and civilian targets thousands of kilometers from the active combat zone. Above the notorious “gray zone” along the Ukrainian front line, hundreds of FPVs per square kilometer are airborne at any given time.
Spotter and Seeker systems working in tandem
Spike, Mara’s system, consists of two modular components. The Spotter targeting system combines visual, acoustic, and optional radar sensors with proprietary AI for day, night, and all-weather detection. The kinetic interceptor Seeker weighs 250 grams, flies at 200 kilometers per hour, and launches from a tube.
“Small drones have changed the battlefield because they have distributed the cost and capability for precision strikes,” explains Daniel Kofman, co-founder and CEO of Mara. “Most defense systems still concentrate both the replacement cost and the line of fire. Spike instead creates a distributed network of small, low-cost nodes, each capable of targeting and firing in multiple directions simultaneously.” The system provides 360-degree hemispheric coverage and can autonomously relay launch commands from Spotter to Seeker, while a human sets the rules of engagement.
Mara trains with the US Army
Over the past months, Mara has tested Spike in several field exercises. Seeker completed intercept maneuvers at a US Army exercise in Texas; Spotter operated hands-free on an armored vehicle during an Army exercise in Europe. In July, Ukrainian forces operated Spotter 40 kilometers from the front line and tracked multiple FPV drones.
Nicole Fraenkel, Partner at Khosla Ventures, says: “Mara has moved quickly from proof of concept to user testing for an autonomous system. What caught my eye is that they are building drone defense autonomy with system costs that are orders of magnitude lower than anything else we have seen.”
Mara is currently focused on deploying Spike for ground-based use with key customers by the end of 2026. Vehicle-mounted and portable variants are set to launch in 2027 in parallel with production scale-up. In addition to military applications, Mara is running a civilian pilot project at a South Korean port. The company has signed cooperation and testing agreements with three US defense organizations, has been selected for the NATO DIANA Innovation Accelerator, and is in early discussions with international military partners in the United Kingdom, Czech Republic, and Ukraine.
