Arkeus, a defence technology company, has successfully secured A$5 million in funding. This investment will allow the company to accelerate its expansion and meet increasing market demand for its advanced artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.
The oversubscribed funding round saw continued support from existing investors, including Main Sequence, Salus Ventures, and Beaten Zone Venture Partners. This demonstrates strong investor confidence in Arkeus’s ability to improve decision-making through its edge-based AI analysis and exploitation.
Arkeus’s primary system, the Hyperspectral Optical Radar (HSOR), combines software-enabled sensors with advanced optics, AI, and edge processing. The HSOR system provides wide-area intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities, offering insights that surpass human limitations.
Simon Olsen, CEO and co-founder of Arkeus, stated, “As the recognised leader in autonomous optical systems, Arkeus is seeing a 10x increase in demand for its capabilities. This funding allows Arkeus to rapidly expand manufacturing capacity to get systems into its customers’ hands, faster.”
Arkeus technology is built with robust data encryption technologies. These technologies have been developed through contracts with the Australian Army, Royal Australian Navy, and the Royal Australian Air Force. The system is designed to enhance the joint ISR picture, with a focus on interoperability. Over the past year, Arkeus’s systems have been integrated into more than six defence platforms.
At the core of its capabilities is Arkeus’s “ARK” data fusion and exploitation engine. This engine provides the AI architecture foundation for the Australian Defence Force. Operationally deployed on both manned and unmanned airborne and surface platforms, Arkeus’s technology enables more operations to be conducted at the edge, without the risk of disruption, reinforcing Australia’s defensive capabilities.
Simon Olsen also noted, “This funding injection reflects renewed confidence in Australian capability. This strength, in conjunction with the welcomed Government modification to the definition of an “Australian” business, provides the foundation necessary for Arkeus to grow its contribution to the success of AUKUS Pillar II.”
Alezeia Brown, Investment Manager at Main Sequence, commented, “Main Sequence is proud to continue its support for Arkeus as it scales its groundbreaking autonomous optical systems. Arkeus’s fusion of advanced optics, AI, and edge processing is proving invaluable across multiple defence platforms, and Main Sequence is excited to back its expansion as it meets the growing demand for its technology in Australia and internationally.”
Dan Bennett, Co-Founder and General Partner at Salus Ventures, said, “Salus Ventures is delighted to support the world-class multidisciplinary team at Arkeus, which continues to demonstrate exceptional customer pull through. With governments and the dual-use sector in AUKUS nations bringing sustained focus to bear on Pillar II, Arkeus is well-positioned to support the accelerated customer demand. Salus Ventures is pleased to support this latest funding round, which will propel Arkeus into new geographies, and looks forward to continuing to activate its deep global network in support of this aim.”
