How many total Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech companies are there?

As of Aug 2026, there are 15,269 active companies in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech sector.

Which countries have the most Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech companies?

United States (5,457) has the highest number of Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech companies, followed by India (1,735) and United Kingdom (1,439).

Which company has raised the most funding in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech sector?

As of Aug 2026, Anduril has secured $11.3B in funding, making it the highest-funded company in the Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech sector.

Which country has attracted the most investment in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech companies?

With $81.3B in total funding, United States has attracted the most investment among Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech companies.

How much venture capital has Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech sector attracted?

In the last 10 years, venture capital firms have invested $78B in this sector.

How many unicorns has Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech sector produced?

Globally, there are 45 unicorns in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech sector, to date.

Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech - 2026 Market & Investments Trends

Q: How many Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech companies are funded?

As of Aug 2026, 4,404 companies in this sector have received funding.

Q: Who are the top investors in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech companies?

The top investors in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech companies by number of investments are Europa, OSTI and EIC Fund

Companies included in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech sector

It includes companies manufacturing advanced aircraft, spacecraft, ships and military equipment. It also includes companies that provide software solutions to aircraft, spacecraft, ship manufacturers and sellers as well as to the defense industry. It also includes companies providing them with tech heavy hardware and advanced materials

Companies excluded in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech sector

It excludes defense contractors and traditional aircraft and ship manufacturers. It also excludes companies providing services to the aerospace, maritime and defense industry stakeholders

Key Metrics

Total Companies

17.9K

Top Companies

Palantir, DJI & more

Total Funding

Funded Companies

Series A+ Companies

Series C+ Companies

Unicorns Created

IPOs

293

Acquisitions

1.01K

Also known as

Aerospace & Defense Tech or Aerospace

View complete details of this sector

The market map of Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech gives a visual overview of the sector, showing key business models, their interactions in the value chain, and industry evolution.

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There are more than 17.9K companies in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech. Palantir is the top Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech company globally, ranked using Tracxn Score (what's this?).

Here are 5 of the top Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech companies globally:

Company	Description	Location	Founded	Current Stage	Private Funding Raised
Palantir	Platform that provides data analysis and management solutions	Denver (United States)	2003	Public	$2.46B
DJI	Manufacturer of camera drones handheld stabilizers and intelligent agricultural equipment	Shenzhen (China)	2006	Series B	$605M
SpaceX	Provider of advanced aerospace and space transportation services	Hawthorne (United States)	2002	Public	$11.9B
Planet	Provider of daily satellite imagery and geospatial data analytics services	San Francisco (United States)	2010	Public	$602M
Amadeus	SaaS-based operations management solution for the hospitality and aviation industry	Madrid (Spain)	1987	Public	-

Get a longer list of companies

Companies founded year-on-year in the Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech sector

434 new startups have been founded so far in 2026 in the Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech sector. 1,124 Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech startups were founded in 2018 - this is the most number of startups founded in any year in the last 10 years.

Total Number of Companies

Year	No. of companies
2026	434
2025	232
2024	467
2023	600
2022	703
2021	962
2020	1,120
2019	1,118
2018	1,124
2017	1,001

Companies founded across countries in the Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech sector

United States has 5,457 Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech startups, the most by any country, followed by India which has 1,735 startups and United Kingdom which has 1,439.

Total Number of Companies

Country	No. of companies
United States	5,457
India	1,735
United Kingdom	1,439
Germany	804
China	727
Canada	618
France	572
Australia	465
Netherlands	369
Spain	358

Stage-wise distribution of the Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech sector

Out of the total 17,939 Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech companies, 4,404 have secured funding. Among them, 2,151 have reached Series A or higher, and 1,695 to Series B or beyond.

Founded - 17,939

Funded - 4,404

Series A+ - 2,151

Series B+ - 1,695

Series C+ - 1,461

Company Stage	No. of companies
Founded	17,939
Funded	4,404
Series A+	2,151
Series B+	1,695
Series C+	1,461

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17.9K+ Total Companies
$162B+ Total Funding
4.4K+ Funded Companies
290+ IPOs
1K+ Acquisitions
170+ Reports

Total funding year-on-year in the Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech sector

The Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech sector saw a total funding of more than $139B in the last 10 years. The most amount of funding has been in 2026 at more than $27.1B till date.

Total Funding

Year	Total Funding
2026	$27.1B
2025	$22.7B
2024	$12.7B
2023	$9.73B
2022	$15.1B
2021	$17.5B
2020	$11.1B
2019	$14.4B
2018	$5.38B
2017	$2.75B

Total funding across countries in the Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech sector

In the last 10 years, Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech startups in United States have recieved the highest funding among all countries - $81.3B. United Kingdom follows with $11.1B and Germany with $10.3B.

Total Funding

Country	Total Funding
United States	$81.3B
United Kingdom	$11.1B
Germany	$10.3B
China	$8.51B
Canada	$5.92B
Spain	$2.52B
India	$2.17B
Japan	$2.06B
France	$1.46B
Italy	$468M

Total funding amount raised by stage in the Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech sector

Over the last 10 years, the Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech sector have seen $4.07B into Seed Stage funding rounds, $31.5B into Early Stage funding rounds and $71B go into Late Stage funding rounds.

Funding Stage	Total Funding
Late Stage	$71B
Early Stage	$31.5B
Debt	$15.6B
Post IPO	$11.5B
Seed Stage	$4.07B
Grant	$2.57B
PE	$497M
Other-Equity	$10M
ICO	$4.9M

Recent Funding Rounds in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech

In the year 2026, till August 2026, Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech companies have raised $25.4B in equity funding across 371 rounds. In the same period last year (i.e. till August 2025), Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech companies had raised $13.5B across 383 rounds. So, 2026 has seen a 88.49% rise in funding in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech companies as compared to 2025.

Here are some recent, important funding rounds in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech:

Company	Round Raised	Amount Raised	Funding Date	Investors
FuVeX	Series A	8266	Aug 05, 2026	Sodena and 2 more
Neuraspace	Series A	1244	Aug 05, 2026	Lince Capital and 2 more
Buzz Solutions	Series A	6051	Aug 04, 2026	S3 Ventures and 3 more
Zoppler Systems	Seed	1717	Aug 04, 2026	Finvolve and 1 more
ispace	Series E	1242	Aug 04, 2026	-

See a more detailed list of funding rounds

Europa is the top investor in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech companies based on number of companies invested.

Here are some top investors in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech:

Investor	Location	Top Portfolio Companies
Europa	Belgium	DJI, Planet, Amadeus and Parrot
OSTI	Oak Ridge (United States)	BETA, Workhorse Group, Arconic and SiOnyx
EIC Fund	Brussels (Belgium)	ICEYE, Varjo, Infinite Orbits and Daedalean
Y Combinator	Mountain View (United States)	Zeitview, Boom Supersonic, Relativity Space and Stoke
NASA	United States	SpaceX, Sofar Ocean, Muon Space and Starfish Space

See a more detailed list of investors

In the year 2026, till August 2026, 58 acquisitions happened in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech sector. Last year, in 2025, a total of 89 acquisitions happened in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech sector.

Here are some recent, important acquisitions in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech:

Company	Acquisition Type	Acquisition Date	Acquirers
Amphinicy	Business Acquisition	Aug 03, 2026	ETL Systems
DroneDeploy	Business Acquisition	Jul 30, 2026	Procore
VSTEP Simulation	Business Acquisition	Jul 28, 2026	Pindustry
Skycatch	Business Acquisition	Jul 07, 2026	Caterpillar
DZYNE	Business Acquisition	Jul 06, 2026	Ondas Networks

See a more detailed list of acquisitions

Acquisition trends in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech

Here are the acquisition trends in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech:

Total Number of Acquisitions

Year	No. of companies
2026	58
2025	89
2024	94
2023	93
2022	94
2021	114
2020	88
2019	79
2018	63
2017	70

In the year 2026, till June 2026, 13 IPOs happened in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech sector.

Here are some recent, important IPOs in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech:

Company	IPO Date	Exchange Symbol
SpaceX	Jun 12, 2026	National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ)
KTEK	May 18, 2026	Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)
Exyn	May 15, 2026	National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ)
Duke Robotic Systems	May 15, 2026	National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ)
HawkEye 360	May 07, 2026	New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)

See a more detailed list of IPOs

Companies founded by alumni from top colleges in the Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech sector

Most number of Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech startups have been founded by alumni from Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University.

College	No. of companies
Stanford University	99
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	86
Harvard University	38
University of California (Berkeley)	31
University of Cambridge	30
Tel Aviv University	29
Carnegie Mellon University	28
Imperial College London	28
University of Oxford	28
BITS Pilani	27

Total funding in companies founded by alumni from top colleges in the the Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech sector

In the last 10 years, Stanford University graduates' Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech companies have raised the most funding among top colleges. Cornell University alumni are second, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni are third.

College	Total Funding
Stanford University	$12.2B
Cornell University	$11.6B
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	$10B
Harvard University	$5.87B
University of Oxford	$5.05B
University of Cambridge	$4.39B
HEC Paris	$3.88B
Freie Universitaet Berlin	$3.43B
Maastricht University	$3.43B
Yale University	$3B