After five years building an edtech company, Nathan Nwachuku, 22, realized Africa was at a critical juncture. The continent is rapidly industrializing, offering opportunity and attracting investment, poised on “the edge of an industrial revolution,” he told TechCrunch.
However, he also recognized a significant obstacle: “Terrorism and insecurity.” Africa experiences more terror-related deaths than any other region,a problem threatening to stifle the continent’s growth.
To address this, Nwachuku teamed up with Maxwell Maduka, 24, to launch Terra Industries, a defense company focused on designing infrastructure and autonomous systems for threat monitoring and response. The company announced Monday that it has secured $11.75 million in funding led by 8VC.
Additional investors include Valor Equity Partners, Lux Capital, SV Angel, and Nova Global. Terra previously raised a $800,000 pre-seed round and garnered further interest after a CNN appearance. Key African investors include Tofino Capital, Kaleo Ventures, and DFS Lab.
“The goal is to build Africa’s first defense prime, to build autonomous defense systems and other systems to protect our critical infrastructure and resources from armed attacks,” said Nwachuku, Terra’s CEO. Maduka serves as the company’s CTO.
The team brings substantial military expertise. Forty percent of its engineers are veterans of the Nigerian military. 8VC’s Alex Moore, a defense investment specialist, sits on the board, and Nigeria’s Vice Air Marshal Ayo Jolasinmi acts as an advisor. Maduka himself served as an engineer in the Nigerian Navy and founded a drone company at age 19.
Based in Abuja, Nigeria, Terra Industries takes a comprehensive approach to security, developing solutions for ground, air, and water.Their offerings include long-range and short-range drones for aerial surveillance, ground drones and surveillance towers for terrestrial protection, and ongoing development of maritime technologies to safeguard offshore infrastructure and pipelines.
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Terra’s technology is powered by ArtemisOS, proprietary software that collects, analyzes, and synthesizes data in real-time. When threats are identified, the system alerts relevant security agencies for rapid intervention. “We want to geofence all of Africa’s critical infrastructure and resources,” Nwachuku stated, emphasizing that the issue isn’t a lack of firepower, but rather a lack of independent intelligence.
Currently, many African nations rely on intelligence from Western powers, China, and russia. “We want to take the defense of our continent’s resources and infrastructure into Africa’s own hands,” Nwachuku continued. “We are the first truly Pan-African defense company.”
Terra recently secured its first federal contract, details of which remain confidential. Revenue is generated through system orders and annual fees for data processing and storage. The company has already generated over $2.5 million in commercial revenue, protecting assets valued at approximately $11 billion.
Commercial clients include those needing to protect private infrastructure, such as gold mines and power plants. Terra currently protects at least two hydropower plants and several smaller mines, primarily in Nigeria.
The new funding will fuel expansion, including the establishment of additional defense manufacturing facilities across Africa. Terra also plans to enhance its software capabilities and grow its AI team, with new software offices opening in San Francisco and London. However, manufacturing will remain in Africa, fostering job creation on the continent.
“It’s clear Africa today is undergoing what I see as an epic struggle for its very survival,” Nwachuku said. “The only way for us to truly break ourselves from the shackles that have held us back for the last decade or two is ensuring the core resources, the core infrastructures of the continent, are entirely protected.”
