Shield AI
Shield AI is an Autonomous Aviation company founded in 2015 and based in San Diego, United States. It has raised $3.6B in total funding, most recently a Series G in 2026 at a $12.7B valuation.
Shield AI develops Hivemind, an AI pilot platform that enables aircraft and drones to operate autonomously in GPS- and communications-denied environments. Its flagship products include the V-BAT vertical-takeoff unmanned aircraft and Nova indoor reconnaissance quadcopter, both fielded by the U.S. Department of Defense and allied militaries.
Founded in 2015 in San Diego by former Navy SEAL Brandon Tseng, his brother Ryan Tseng, and Andrew Reiter, Shield AI has positioned itself as the leading pure-play autonomy software provider for defense aviation. In 2025 it launched Hivemind Enterprise, opening its autonomy stack to OEMs and governments building their own unmanned systems.
In March 2025 Shield AI raised $240M at a $5.3B valuation, with Cisco veteran Gary Steele joining as CEO and Ryan Tseng transitioning to President and Chief Strategy Officer. In March 2026 Shield AI raised $2B at a $12.7B valuation in Series G funding led by Advent International, alongside $500M in preferred equity from Blackstone, more than doubling its prior valuation. The company projects $540M+ in revenue for 2026. Total capital raised exceeds $3.6B.
Shield AI is building the autonomy layer that could become the de facto operating system for Western military drones, a strategic capability at the center of modern air power doctrine.
shield.ai ↗·Autonomous Aviation·
United States·private 
