Shield AI

San Diego, United States Founded: 2015 • Age: 11 yrs Unicorn
Autonomous drones and AI pilots for fighter jets are developed.

About Shield AI

Shield AI is an Industrial Goods & Manufacturing company based in San Diego (United States) founded in 2015 by Ryan Tseng, Andrew Reiter, and Brandon Tseng. Autonomous drones and AI pilots for fighter jets are developed. It operates in the Industrial Goods & Manufacturing, Aerospace, Defense & Maritime, and Technology sectors. Shield AI has raised $3.52 billion across 18 funding rounds from investors including Bloomberg, SVB and L3Harris. The company has 1,965 employees. Shield AI has completed 4 acquisitions, including Aechelon Technology, Heron Systems and Martin UAV. Shield AI was last valued at $12.7 billion in March 2026. Its chief executive, as recorded, is Ryan Tseng. Its website shield.ai draws about 142 thousand monthly visits. Shield AI offers products and services including Hivemind, Edge OS, Pilot, Forge, and V-BAT. Its focus areas include High Tech, Security & Surveillance Technology, Security Patrolling System and Unmanned Aerial System. Its legal entity is SHIELD AI, INC. Its competitors include Anduril, Northrop Grumman and 3D Robotics; 2 of its 3 listed competitors have raised funding.

Company details

Shield AI was founded in 2015 in San Diego, United States, focusing on AI technologies within the defense and surveillance sectors. Autonomous drones are manufactured for battlefield use, incorporating deep neural networks for GPS-denied navigation, mapping, exploration, multi-robot collaboration, and target tracking. A proprietary AI framework supports quadcopter development, with applications serving military personnel, law enforcement, and first responders.

  • Headquarters San Diego, United States
  • Employees 1,965
  • Founders Ryan Tseng, Andrew Reiter, Brandon Tseng
  • Stage Unicorn
  • Sectors
    Industrial Goods & Manufacturing
    Aerospace, Defense & Maritime Technology
  • Email
    β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’
  • Website shield.ai
  • Social LinkedIn X
  • Legal Name Shield Ai, Inc.
Key Metrics
  • Total Equity Funding
    $3.52B (USD)

    in 18 rounds

  • Latest Funding Round
    $2B (USD), Series G

    Mar 2026

  • Investors
    Bloomberg

    & 39 more

  • Employee Count
    1,965
  • Investments & Acquisitions

Products & Services of Shield AI

Shield AI offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services, including Hivemind, Edge OS, Pilot, Forge, and V-BAT.

Hivemind
Autonomy Platform

AI software for rapid development and deployment of autonomous machines.

Edge OS
Operating System

Middleware for low-latency autonomy in diverse compute environments.

Pilot
Autonomy Catalog

Pre-built behaviors for quick deployment in mission autonomy tasks.

Forge
Development Suite

Tools for designing and testing autonomous machines across platforms.

V-BAT
UAS System

Unmanned aircraft for ISR and targeting in electronic warfare scenarios.

Funding Insights of Shield AI

Shield AI has successfully raised a total of $3.52B across 18 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Series G round of $2 billion completed in March 2026. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.

  • Total Funding $3.52B
  • Total Rounds 18
  • Last Round Series G β€” $2B
  • First Round $600,000

    (Jun 2015)

  • Investors Count 40

Latest 10 of 18 funding rounds of Shield AI with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.

DateAmountTransaction NameValuationLead InvestorsInvestors
Mar 2026$2BSeries G–Advent International, JPMorgan Chase
Mar 2025$240MSeries F–L3Harris, Hanwha
Dec 2023$100MSeries F––
–
Dec 2023$200MDebt – Venture––
Sep 2023$281.34MSeries F$2.7BU.S. Innovative Technology Fund, riot.ventures
Dec 2022$60MSeries E$2.3BThomas Tull
–
Jun 2022$75MDebt – Conventional––
May 2022$90MSeries E–Snowpoint Ventures
Aug 2021$210MSeries D–Disruptive
Feb 2021Debt – Conventional––
Valuation history
DateValuationStage
Sep 2023$2.7Bβ€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’
Dec 2022$2.3Bβ€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’
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Full valuation and stage history of Shield AI

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Last known valuation $12.7B (Mar 2026). 40 investors in total: 39 institutional and 1 angel.

Investors in Shield AI

Shield AI has secured backing from 40 investors, including institutional, venture fund, and angel investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Bloomberg, SVB and L3Harris.

All
Venture Fund
Institutional
Angel
InvestorDescriptionFounded YearDomainLocation
Venture capital investments in technology sectors are handled by Andreessen Horowitz.
a16z.com
A private investment firm focused on non-cyclical business sectors.
washingtonharbour.comArlington, United States
Venture debt financing is provided to companies in multiple sectors.
2003htgc.comPalo Alto, United States
Multiple sectors are invested in by the private equity fund.
usinnovativetechnology.tcc.mode
riot.ventures
Venture capital investments are provided by Snowpoint Ventures.
snowpoint.vc
Venture capital fund focused on seed to growth stage fintech, deep tech, and enterprise tech companies
p72.vcNew York, United States
Investments are made by Riot in early-stage hardware tech startups.
riot.vcBoston, United States
Venture capital firm
breyercapital.comMenlo Park, United States
Venture capital fund investing in early-stage tech startups
disruptive.techAustin, United States
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Investor details for Shield AI

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People of Shield AI

138 people are tracked at Shield AI (59 in leadership, 79 in team); the tracked headcount is 1,965.

NameRoleGroup
Ryan Tseng
Co-Founder & CEOLeadership
Andrew Reiter
FounderLeadership
Brandon Tseng
Co-FounderLeadership
Mike H.
Director, International Strategy & Business DevelopmentLeadership
Christopher J. Brinkley
Senior Director International Business Development And StrategyLeadership
Nathan Michael
CTOLeadership
Henoch Senbetta
Chief of StaffLeadership
Cynthia Mennear
Director, Technical AccountingLeadership
Tim Ramsay
Director of AI EngineeringLeadership
Jared Olson
Chief PilotLeadership
Thomas Schaefer
Vice President Of HivemindLeadership
Shawn Kumar
Head Of Supply Chain - IndiaLeadership
Jonathan Troup
Director Of Planning OperationsLeadership
Jason Davis
Vice President - Strategic CaptureLeadership
Bhrett Brockley
Head Of People ExperienceLeadership
Matt Karas
Director Of Compliance And Associate General CounselLeadership
Gabe Mayo
VP, Hardware EngineeringLeadership
Kelsey Peters
Executive Assistant To The President & Co-owner And Chief Operating OfficerLeadership
Srikanth U.
Director Of Software EngineeringLeadership
Tate Buffington
Director - Autonomy ProgramsLeadership

118 more people are available in the full profile.

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Investments & Acquisitions by Shield AI

Shield AI has strategically engaged in corporate development activities, having acquired 4 companies. Notable acquisitions include Aechelon Technology, Heron Systems and Martin UAV.

Acquisitions
Company NameDescriptionDomainLocationFoundedAcquiredAmount
3D real-time visual simulations for training are developed.
aechelon.comSan Francisco, United States1998Mar 2026β€’β€’β€’β€’
Object detection systems are manufactured for military and rescue operations.
sentientvision.comMelbourne, Australia1999Apr 2024β€’β€’β€’β€’
Commercial UAV hardware is developed, manufactured, and operated.
martinuav.comKilgore, United States2015Jul 2021β€’β€’β€’β€’
Unmanned AI-based aerial vehicles are supplied for military applications.
heronsystems.comCalifornia, United States1993Jul 2021β€’β€’β€’β€’
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Timeline of Shield AI

8 dated milestones of Shield AI across 11 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.

  1. Founded Shield AI is founded.
  2. Funding First funding round of $600K.
  3. Acquisition Acquires Heron Systems.
  4. Acquisition Acquires Martin UAV.
  5. Milestone Reaches Unicorn status.
  6. Acquisition Acquires Sentient Vision Systems.
  7. Funding Latest funding round, Series G, of $2.0B.
  8. Acquisition Acquires Aechelon Technology.

Competitors of Shield AI

Shield AI has 3 listed competitors in our database, 2 of them funded. They include Anduril, Northrop Grumman and 3D Robotics.

Company NameDomainFoundedHQ LocationTotal fundingEmployeesDescription
anduril.com2017Orange, United States$6.26B2,193
Provider of AI-based drone surveillance solutions for defense and maritime sector
northropgrumman.com1939United States95,000
Non-combat aircraft systems are supplied for aerospace and defense sectors.
3dr.com2009Berkeley, United States$178.78M
Consumer and commercial drones with autopilot systems are developed.
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Detailed competitors of Shield AI

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Web traffic of Shield AI

The website of Shield AI (shield.ai) receives about 141.8K visits a month.

  • Monthly visits
    141.8K

    ▲ 12% vs previous month

Similar websites

Websites whose visitors overlap most with Shield AI. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.

WebsiteDomainAudience affinityMonthly visitsGlobal rankProfile
anduril.com
100%
611.3K#79,235View details
palantir.com
86%
1.3M#47,371View details
leetcode.com
84%
38.5M#1,101View details
ai.google
80%
2.9M#29,193View details
macro.com
80%
100.2K#379,135View details
β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’.comβ€’β€’%β€’.β€’M#‒‒‒‒‒–
β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’.comβ€’β€’%β€’.β€’M#‒‒‒‒‒–
β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’.comβ€’β€’%β€’.β€’M#‒‒‒‒‒–
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Top companies in Physical Security & Surveillance

3 companies that operate in the same segment as Shield AI (Physical Security & Surveillance) in United States, ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.

CompanyDescriptionFoundedLocationTotal fundingRevenueEmployees
Cloud-based business telephony and home security services are provided.
2004Palo Alto, California, United StatesUSD 87.97 MUSD 273.6 M1,190
AI-powered cloud-based vehicle tracking solutions are offered for fleet owners.
2015San Francisco, California, United StatesUSD 915 MUSD 1.62 B5,792
Cloud-based smart security cameras are manufactured for home use.
1999Provo, Utah, United StatesUSD 172 MUSD 341.04 M11,275
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Related news about Shield Ai

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Frequently Asked Questions about Shield AI

Shield AI was founded in 2015.

Shield AI is headquartered in San Diego, United States. It is registered at San Diego, California, United States.

Ryan Tseng is the CEO of Shield AI, as recorded in our data. They have also founded this company.

Shield AI is a funded company, having raised a total of $3.52B across 18 funding rounds to date.

Shield AI has 1,965 employees.

Shield AI was founded in 2015 in San Diego, United States, focusing on AI technologies within the defense and surveillance sectors. Autonomous drones are manufactured for battlefield use, incorporating deep neural networks for GPS-denied navigation, mapping, exploration, multi-robot collaboration, and target tracking. A proprietary AI framework supports quadcopter development, with applications serving military personnel, law enforcement, and first responders.

Shield AI's top competitors include Anduril, Northrop Grumman and 3D Robotics.

Shield AI offers Hivemind, Edge OS, Pilot, Forge, and V-BAT.

Shield AI has made 4 acquisitions, including Aechelon Technology, Heron Systems, and Martin UAV.

Shield AI has 40 investors. Key investors include Bloomberg, SVB, L3Harris, JPMorgan Chase, and Blackstone.

The valuation of Shield AI is $12.7B as of Mar 2026.

Shield AI operates through Shield Ai, Inc..

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