Coding, autonomy and a new fund highlight a week of venture moves

Code Metal

This developer of technology for software developers to properly translate artificial intelligence code has fetched $36.5 million in Series A capital from investors to aid in its expansion push across industries with strict safety and regulatory requirements.

Peter Morales founded Code Metal in 2023 to combine formal software coding methods and AI techniques with the goal of verifying and guaranteeing the code meets safety and regulatory checks. Code Metal describes the idea as one of ensuring every line of code is tested, compliant, optimized and robust.

Accel led the Series A round, which put Code Metal’s touted valuation at $250 million.

The venture capital arms of RTX and AE Industrial Partners are new investors and the notable GovCon names to highlight alongside Shield Capital, which is a returning investor. Bosch Ventures, Smith Point Capital and Overmatch VC are other new investors. J2 and Fulcrum Venture Group are also continuing.

Code Metal’s Series A round also included participation from individuals such as Chaos Industries CEO John Tenet, biomedical entrepreneur Paul Schimmel, GovForce CEO Kendall Collins, telecommunications identity Robert Cohn and defense investor Chris Heinz.

Forterra

This maker of autonomous mission systems for defense missions, including swarms of robotic technologies, collected $238 million in Series C capital and debt financing to support product development and production capacity efforts.

Forterra specializes in operating systems used for communications, command-and-control and edge computing with the goal of automating entire fleets of vehicles.

The company’s portfolio includes a $114 million Marine Corps contract for autonomous breaching systems and partnerships with defense giants such as RTX’s Raytheon business and BAE Systems Inc.

Moore Strategic Ventures led the Series C round that also involved participation from Enlightenment Capital, a government market investment firm and existing backer of Forterra.

New investors include Salesforce Ventures, Franklin Templeton, Balyasny Asset Management, 645 Ventures, Hanwha Asset Management, 9Yards Capital and NightDragon. Existing investors returning to the fold also include XYZ Venture Capital and Hedosophia.

J2 Ventures

This veteran-led investment firm focused on the intersection of technology, business and government has brought in $250 million for its new Brookhaven Fund to focus on early-stage investments in companies developing “critical technologies.”

J2 Ventures lists the new fund’s key priority areas as including advanced computing, cybersecurity, communications infrastructure, artificial intelligence, and health care with an emphasis on remote physiological monitoring.

Brookhaven is J2’s third major fund geared toward government and technology, following the closure of its second fund during the summer of 2024 at $150 million.

J2’s high-profile backings in the government landscape include Apex Space, a startup aiming to mass-produce small satellites, and the aforementioned Code Metal that led off this roundup of venture activity.

The Brookhaven Fund’s group of limited partners includes JP Morgan, MetLife, Upsher Management, Alpha Leonis Partners and the State Investment Council of New Mexico. Other large financial institutions and family offices are part of the fund’s LP network.