Aventra Raises $17.5 Million to Scale Piranha Production

Aventra Defense Systems raised $17.5 million to expand production and testing of Piranha, its autonomous precision payload system deployed by balloons, the company said in a press release. Konvoy led the financing, with participation from Lavrock Ventures, Booz Allen Ventures, Sands Capital and Langford Industries, plus a funding facility from Western Alliance Bank.

Aventra will use the capital to move Piranha into low rate initial production at its Herndon facility. The company will also test new payload and communications configurations for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, electronic warfare and kinetic missions, while expanding its engineering and production teams.

Piranha uses high altitude balloons and stratospheric air currents to carry payloads before autonomous reentry and long range glide. Aventra said the system has completed 400 flights, including use during the US Army's Arcane Thunder 26 exercise and other military evaluations. The funding will also support work on an unannounced platform for long range strike missions.