Raft acquires data fusion tech developer

Raft, a defense software company backed by investment firm Washington Harbour Partners, has acquired a developer of data fusion tools as part of a push to create a more unified technology infrastructure for the military.

N3bula Systems opened for business in 2020 and is credited with developing an open source-based backbone for joint operations across the Air Force, Navy and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Through this acquisition, Raft is seeking to combine its agentic artificial intelligence product suite with N3bula’s expertise and experience in connecting soldiers and systems in the field. Financial terms of the agreement announced Tuesday were not disclosed, while Raft touts a workforce of around 350 people and partnerships with at least 25 agencies.

"N3bula Systems is one of the most impactful teams in defense technology — the minds behind a critical defense infrastructure," Raft’s chief executive and founder Shubhi Mishra said in a release. " We embed directly with warfighters as trusted edge nodes, scale proven AI across mission-critical operations, and deliver real solutions to real battlefield problems — faster than established players. This signals a fundamental shift toward edge-native defense innovation.”

Raft touts its primary focus area in agentic AI — a tool often described as a virtual assistant that makes decisions and performs tasks without much human intervention — as using the tech to create a more unified command-and-control environment for defense operators, for which the company will also bring in N3bula’s work in fires integration.

In the summer of 2024, Shubhi Mishra appeared on our WT 360 podcast to discuss why she chose Washington Harbour Partners to back Raft in this phase of its strategy. Mishra started Raft in 2018 and Washington Harbour acquired its stake in Raft approximately four months prior to that interview.