Mar 2025 in brief.
Ten events with a ≥$733M floor across seven disclosed amounts. Epirus’ $250M Series D (8VC, Washington Harbour) for solid-state high-power-microwave counter-drone systems and Shield AI’s $240M strategic round from L3Harris and Hanwha Asset Management were two-thirds of the month’s dollars. Rocket Lab agreed to acquire Mynaric, the German laser-communications terminal maker then in restructuring, for an initial $75M plus earn-out. Dataminr raised $85M in convertible financing and credit (NightDragon, HSBC). The Series A cohort was pointed at the same threat set: Allen Control Systems’ $30M for Bullfrog robotic gun stations (kinetic counter-UAS), Distributed Spectrum’s $25M for AI-driven RF sensing and electronic warfare, and Kela’s $28M for an open battlefield software platform. Three acquisitions went undisclosed — General Atomics’ North Point Defense (SIGINT exploitation software), Madison Dearborn-backed T2S Solutions’ Blue Marble Communications (space-qualified communications), and Cerberus’ Votaw Precision Technologies (launch and satellite hardware).
March is the month counter-UAS splits into its two investable forms — directed energy (Epirus) and kinetic robotic effectors (Allen Control Systems) — and one of the two returns at multiples of this round (Allen’s $200M Series B is 15 months out). Cerberus’ Votaw purchase is the first of its space-hardware buys on the tape; Vivace follows in February 2026. When three of four acquisitions print no price, the public floor understates the month.
Activity vs each domain’s own baseline.
Each cell is the number of publicly announced deals in that domain and month. Color compares the month with that domain’s own average over the months shown — not a scale shared across domains — so a dark cell in a small domain means “busy for that domain”, not “large in dollars”. Domains with fewer than 12 events in the window are shown in gray without color. Absolute totals across all 24 months are on the archive home.
| Domain | Sep 24 | Oct 24 | Nov 24 | Dec 24 | Jan 25 | Feb 25 | Mar 25 | Deals since Sep 24 | Disclosed $ (same window) | Last 3 mo vs prior 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Missiles, Munitions & Missile Defense | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | 2 | 6 | ≥$4.51B | 3 vs 3 |
| Autonomous Systems & Robotics | 5 | 1 | 3 | – | 2 | 1 | 1 | 13 | ≥$2.23B | 4 vs 4 |
| Space & Launch | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | 2 | 3 | 2 | 11 | ≥$1.15B | 7 vs 3 |
| C4ISR, EW & Sensing | 3 | 1 | 2 | – | 1 | 2 | 1 | 10 | ≥$2.23B | 4 vs 3 |
| Cyber & Intelligence | 1 | 1 | – | 2 | – | 2 | 2 | 8 | ≥$1.06B | 4 vs 3 |
| AI, Compute & Defense Software | 2 | – | – | 2 | 1 | – | 1 | 6 | ≥$199.2M | 2 vs 2 |
| Platforms: Air, Land & Maritime | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | ≥$430M | 0 vs 1 |
| Defense Manufacturing & Industrial Base | – | 1 | – | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ≥$6.62B | 4 vs 2 |
| Logistics, Sustainment & Training | – | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | – | 2 | ≥$36.2M | 1 vs 1 |
| Acquisition, Budget & National Security Policy | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 | — | 0 vs 0 |
| Other / critical technologies | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | ≥$59M | 0 vs 1 |
The archive begins in Sep 2024, so this issue shows 7 of the usual 12 baseline months; averages use the months shown.
Top deals.
| Date | Company | Event | Amount | Investors / Acquirer | Domain | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-03-05 | Epirus | F-D+ | $250M | 8VC; Washington Harbour Partners | Missiles, Munitions & Missile Defense | Source |
| 2025-03-06 | Shield AI | F-STRATEGIC | $240M | L3Harris; Hanwha Asset Management | Autonomous Systems & Robotics | Source |
| 2025-03-19 | Dataminr | F-GROWTH | $85M | NightDragon; HSBC | Cyber & Intelligence | Source |
| 2025-03-11 | Mynaric AG | M-STRATEGIC | $75M | Rocket Lab USA | Space & Launch | Source |
| 2025-03-27 | Allen Control Systems | F-A | $30M | Craft Ventures | Missiles, Munitions & Missile Defense | Source |
| 2025-03-17 | Kela Technologies | F-A | $28M | Lux Capital | AI, Compute & Defense Software | Source |
| 2025-03-18 | Distributed Spectrum | F-A | $25M | Conviction; Shield Capital; Nat Friedman | C4ISR, EW & Sensing | Source |
Notable undisclosed
- Votaw Precision Technologies · M-PE-PLATFORM · 2025-03-24 · Cerberus Capital Management · SourceSanta Fe Springs, CA specialty manufacturer (210k sq ft) of mission-critical hardware for launch/undersea vehicles, satellites, ground radar, and other A&D applications; founded 1963.
- Blue Marble Communications · M-PE-ADDON · 2025-03-18 · T2S Solutions (Madison Dearborn Partners) · SourcePoway, CA designer/manufacturer of space-qualified RF, free-space optical, and network communications / computing modules for satellites and space vehicles.
- North Point Defense · M-STRATEGIC · 2025-03-03 · General Atomics Integrated Intelligence (GA-I3) · SourceProvider of SIGINT exploitation software and sensor integration with AI/ML autonomous signal processing for DoD/IC.
No domain moved outside its normal range.
No domain yet has enough history for a percentage callout. We flag a domain only when its last three months differ from the prior three by 30% or more and it has at least 36 events in the trailing 12 months. Smaller samples stay as raw counts on the heat map; we never quote month-over-month percentages.
Fund closes, programs and other items.
Fund closes, government capital programs and other supply-side items sit here, outside the deal statistics.
Capital supply & policy
- 2025-03-04 ONE Bow River National Defense Fund I C-FUNDCLOSE
$500M of committed capital (pending SBA approval of roughly $10M of LP commitments), oversubscribed against a $250M initial and $400M target. The largest fund in the SBIC Critical Technologies first cohort. · Source - 2025-03-31 Construct Capital Fund III C-FUNDCLOSE
$300M of commitments. Thesis spans manufacturing, transportation and defense technology; the portfolio includes Hadrian. Fund II was $225M (2022). · Source
Reported, not confirmed
None this issue. Items appear here only when a credible report has not yet been confirmed by a primary source; they never enter the statistics.
Mar activity by domain.
A full section (narrative and table) for any domain with five or more events this month; a compact list otherwise. Each event has one primary domain: the market the money is buying.
Missiles, Munitions & Missile Defense
2 events · disclosed floor ≥$280M (2 disclosed of 2)
Autonomous Systems & Robotics
1 event · disclosed floor ≥$240M (1 disclosed of 1)
- 2025-03-06 Shield AI · F-STRATEGIC · $240M · L3Harris; Hanwha Asset Management · Source
Space & Launch
2 events · disclosed floor ≥$75M (1 disclosed of 2)
C4ISR, EW & Sensing
1 event · disclosed floor ≥$25M (1 disclosed of 1)
- 2025-03-18 Distributed Spectrum · F-A · $25M · Conviction; Shield Capital; Nat Friedman · Source
Cyber & Intelligence
2 events · disclosed floor ≥$85M (1 disclosed of 2)
AI, Compute & Defense Software
1 event · disclosed floor ≥$28M (1 disclosed of 1)
- 2025-03-17 Kela Technologies · F-A · $28M · Lux Capital · Source
Platforms: Air, Land & Maritime
No events in the issue month.
Defense Manufacturing & Industrial Base
1 event · disclosed floor — (0 disclosed of 1)
- 2025-03-24 Votaw Precision Technologies · M-PE-PLATFORM · Undisclosed · Cerberus Capital Management · Source
Logistics, Sustainment & Training
No events in the issue month.
Acquisition, Budget & National Security Policy
No events in the issue month.
Deal table, method and definitions.
Issue deal table
| ID | Date | Status | Company | Type | Amount | Domain | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PULSE-202503-0049 | 2025-03-27 | closed | Allen Control Systems | F-A | $30M | Missiles, Munitions & Missile Defense | Source |
| PULSE-202503-0051 | 2025-03-24 | closed | Votaw Precision Technologies | M-PE-PLATFORM | Undisclosed | Defense Manufacturing & Industrial Base | Source |
| PULSE-202503-0050 | 2025-03-19 | announced | Dataminr | F-GROWTH | $85M | Cyber & Intelligence | Source |
| PULSE-202503-0052 | 2025-03-18 | closed | Blue Marble Communications | M-PE-ADDON | Undisclosed | Space & Launch | Source |
| PULSE-202503-0048 | 2025-03-18 | closed | Distributed Spectrum | F-A | $25M | C4ISR, EW & Sensing | Source |
| PULSE-202503-0047 | 2025-03-17 | closed | Kela Technologies | F-A | $28M | AI, Compute & Defense Software | Source |
| PULSE-202503-0046 | 2025-03-11 | announced | Mynaric AG | M-STRATEGIC | $75M | Space & Launch | Source |
| PULSE-202503-0045 | 2025-03-06 | closed | Shield AI | F-STRATEGIC | $240M | Autonomous Systems & Robotics | Source |
| PULSE-202503-0044 | 2025-03-05 | closed | Epirus | F-D+ | $250M | Missiles, Munitions & Missile Defense | Source |
| PULSE-202503-0043 | 2025-03-03 | closed | North Point Defense | M-STRATEGIC | Undisclosed | Cyber & Intelligence | Source |
Method & coverage
Public sources only · Issue window = first public announcement in Mar 2025 · 10 announced or closed events (F 6 · M 4 · P 0) · Disclosed floor ≥$733M across 7 of 10 (30% undisclosed) · Closings of deals first announced in an earlier month are not counted again here · Capital-supply items are sidebar-only and excluded from domain statistics · Heat-map colors use each domain’s own trailing-12-month baseline.
Event codes & terms
Disclosed floor — the sum of publicly disclosed amounts only. Undisclosed deals add zero, so read every total as “at least”.
Announcement month — events are dated to their first public announcement. A close in a later month does not move the event.
Mission domain — the market the capital is buying: the investor’s thesis first, the product second. One primary domain per event.
Heat-map baseline — color compares a month’s count with the same domain’s average over the trailing 12 months shown. Grey means fewer than 12 events in the window, too few to color.
About ASC
Abelian Security Council (ASC) gives clients in defense, national security and critical technologies direct, compliant access to the people who researched, designed, built, evaluated, bought, deployed and competed with the systems they are underwriting. Pulse is the public layer of that work: a curated tape of announced financings, acquisitions and listings, compiled from public sources and published monthly. Clients can schedule a call with Owen Davies, ASC’s Chief Executive. Members can apply to join.