Firestorm Labs wraps up $82M Series B round

Firestorm Labs, a maker of portable drone manufacturing systems for use in expeditionary locations, has collected $82 million in Series B capital from investors to further accelerate production of its flagship platform.

Known as xCell, Firestorm designs the system to generate unmanned systems and components through the use of three-dimensional printing techniques and reliance on off-the-grid power sources. Firestorm opened for business in 2022 with the idea of producing the drones on shorter cycles without worrying about potential supply chain disruptions.

Washington Harbour Partners led the Series B round announced Wednesday. The venture capital arms of Booz Allen Hamilton and Lockheed Martin participated, as did the intelligence community’s In-Q-Tel organization. New Enterprise Associates, Ondas, Geodesic and Motley Fool Ventures also were involved.

Washington Harbour, Booz Allen Ventures and Lockheed Martin Ventures also contributed to Firestorm’s $47 million Series A round that closed in July.

As Firestorm sees the world, its business and tech approach aligns with the Defense Department’s designation of “contested logistics technologies” as one of six critical tech areas for future investment activity.

"The hard truth is that current supply chains are too fragile for high-stakes environments, particularly in the Indo-Pacific," Firestorm Labs CEO Dan Magy said in a release. "Our Series B accelerates our move into scaled production, ensuring we solve the problem of contested logistics directly at the tactical edge.

Each xCell system spans two containers that have 3D printers supplied by HP. Firestorm has also built the xCell platform as an open ecosystem, which is intended to help drone makers redesign the vehicles for additive manufacturing and quick assembly by operators in the field.

Firestorm is working under a $100 million Air Force contract for research-and-development efforts that focus on additively manufactured drones, which the company can supply to other agencies under that same contract.

The company plans to use a bulk of the Series B proceeds to grow its team, which has quadrupled from 40 employees to around 160 people over the last 12 months.