Terra Industries Raises $18M to Scale African Defence Manufacturing

Nigerian defence-tech startup Terra Industries has secured an additional $18 million in seed funding to expand its manufacturing capabilities and accelerate deployments across Africa. The new capital brings the company's total seed capital to $52 million, with previous investors including 8VC, Silent Ventures, Nova Global, Belief Capital, and SV Angel.

New backers include Norleo Space Investments and angel investor Grant Gordon. Terra plans to use the funds to bolster its African manufacturing base and hire across engineering, operations, and business development teams. The company's expansion comes amid rising interest in locally developed defence technologies in emerging markets.

A major component of Terra's growth strategy is the opening of a 34,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Accra, Ghana, which is expected to become operational by Q4 2026. The new plant, more than twice the size of Terra's existing Abuja facility, will enable the company to reach an annual production capacity of 50,000 systems by 2028. This expansion is designed to meet the growing demand for autonomous and counter-drone systems across the region.

Terra's product portfolio centers around autonomous systems, including drones, interceptor systems, sentry towers, and unmanned ground vehicles, all powered by its proprietary ArtemisOS software platform. These systems are designed to protect critical infrastructure across land, air, and maritime environments, with the Archer drone boasting a range of up to 1,000 kilometres and endurance of 13 hours.

The company's expansion into Ghana is aimed at supporting the rising demand for such systems, while also creating opportunities for local engineering and manufacturing talent.