Israeli Startup Raises $36 Million to Combat Drone Swarms with Advanced Mobile Defense System

Israeli startup Skapion, founded by veterans from Rafael and elite IDF units, has secured $36 million in funding to develop a mobile system designed to detect, intercept, and neutralize swarms of drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The funding round was led by UP.Partners and Khosla Ventures, an early investor in OpenAI, with participation from early backers Fusion VC, Stratos Ventures, TBD VC, and q Fund.

Skapion's technology addresses the evolving battlefield challenge where drones have shifted from single-use intelligence or attack tools to inexpensive, widely available swarm weapons. This creates a costly and complex defense problem, as traditional interceptors are expensive compared to the cheap drones they target. The company’s system aims to operate effectively even without continuous communication and under difficult terrain and weather conditions, protecting troops, bases, fixed facilities, and critical infrastructure.

Since its founding, Skapion has expanded rapidly to over 20 employees in Israel, recruiting experts in engineering, defense, aerospace, robotics, and autonomy, with plans to hire dozens more engineers. The company’s headquarters are in Washington, D.C., while its research and development center operates in Ramat Gan, Israel.

Co-founder and CEO Ido Bar-On emphasized the urgent need for solutions capable of countering simultaneous drone threats swiftly and cost-effectively, stating, "The question today is not whether a single drone can be detected or neutralized, but whether modern militaries can handle swarms of threats at the speed, scale, and cost required on the new battlefield." The recent funding will accelerate technology development, expand engineering teams, and build capabilities to meet one of the key security challenges of the coming decade.