K2, Pryzm, South 8 and VATN detail their newest capital rounds

K2 Space

This three-year-old satellite maker has hauled $250 million in Series C capital as it pushes toward the planned March launch of its first “Mega Class” satellite, called GRAVITAS.

K2 Space also aims to ramp up production at its Torrance, California facility after that launch with the goal of producing 100 high-power satellites per year.

Redpoint led the Series C round with additional participation from the likes of Alpine Space Ventures, Altimeter, Hedosophia, Lightspeed and T. Rowe Price Associates. This follows K2’s closure of a $110 million Series B round in February, which Altimeter and Lightspeed led.

K2 is eyeing multiple launches across 2026 and 2027, with operational commercial and national security constellations beginning deployment starting in 2028. SES is a key commercial customer of K2, which also holds U.S. government contracts.

Mega is K2’s initial production baseline that will be followed by Giga, a large-class spacecraft the company will design to deliver 100 kilowatts of power per satellite. K2’s overall strategy is to raise the bar for how much power and volume space systems can hold while in-orbit.

Pryzm

This three-year-old provider of federal capture and acquisition management software has fetched $12.2 million in seed funding to help grow its team, plus advance on its work to acquire needed government authorizations.

Andreessen Horowitz led the round through its American Dynamism fund. Existing investors Amplify.LA, Forum Ventures and XYZ Venture Capital are also continuing their involvement.

Pryzm designs its software for use in both the private sector and at government agencies. For industry, the software works to help companies identify opportunities and see funding priorities.

For government users, Przym touts its offering as helping create “a digital thread of every defense dollar” so agencies can better track their spending.

Przym has already achieved both the FedRAMP High and Defense Department Impact Level 5 security authorizations, while also being selected for the Defense Innovation Unit’s Enterprise Workflow and Reporting Platform effort.

South 8 Technologies

This 10-year-old developer of liquefied gas cells for lithium-ion batteries has completed an $11 million follow-on funding round that was co-led by the venture capital arms of Gore and Lockheed Martin.

South 8 will use this capital to expand its capacity for manufacturing the cells, which use a blend of non-toxic gases that operate in temperatures between negative-76 degrees and 140 degrees. This is key for aerospace and defense systems that require reliable energy in harsh environments, including soldier radios and unmanned aerial systems.

In-Q-Tel, the intelligence community’s venture arm, also participated in the follow-on round. Other participants included Anzu Partners, LG Technology Ventures, Porsche Ventures, Foothill Ventures, Alumni Ventures and Galvion.

South 8’s government portfolio includes a collaboration with LG Energy Solution to develop LiGas batteries for space missions that have to operate in extreme cold temperatures, in partnership with KULR Technology Group and NASA.

The company also holds non-dilutive funding and joint development agreements with the Army and Energy Department.

VATN Systems

This two-year-old developer of an autonomous torpedo-shaped underwater vehicle, has collected $60 million in Series A capital for the next phase of research-and-development work.

BVVC led the round that also included the participation of the venture capital arms of Lockheed Martin and Science Applications International Corp., which are existing investors from VATN’s $13 million seed round closed in 2024.

Hanwha Group, the South Korean conglomerate pushing into U.S. maritime work, is a new investor that will work with VATN to accelerate the development of the drones.

Other new investors in VATN include Geodesic Capital, Airbus Ventures, Dauntless Ventures, Trousdale Ventures and Veteran Ventures Capital. The group of returning investors includes DYNE Ventures, Propeller Ventures, Decisive Point Ventures, Centre Street Partners and Cubit Capital.

The U.S. Navy views autonomous systems as a path forward for growing the fleet and making it hybrid in nature to complement larger crewed vessels, plus counter China’s own maritime expansion push.