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

As of Sep 2026, there are 37,785 active companies in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense sector.

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

United States (7,258) has the highest number of Aerospace, Maritime and Defense companies, followed by United Kingdom (2,957) and India (2,104).

How many Aerospace, Maritime and Defense companies are funded?

As of Sep 2026, 2,521 companies in this sector have received funding.

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

As of Sep 2026, Castelion has secured $1.3B in funding, making it the highest-funded company in the Aerospace, Maritime and Defense sector.

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

With $30.6B in total funding, United States has attracted the most investment among Aerospace, Maritime and Defense companies.

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

In the last 10 years, venture capital firms have invested $6.44B in this sector.

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

Globally, there are 5 unicorns in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense sector, to date.

Aerospace, Maritime and Defense - 2026 Market & Investments Trends

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

The top investors in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense companies by number of investments are Europa, Military Health and NASA

There are 38.1K companies in the Aerospace, Maritime and Defense sector across the world, with 2.52K funded companies having collectively raised $74.8B in venture capital money and private equity. Overall 2.57K of these are Series A+ funded and the sector has seen the creation of 5 Unicorns.

Aerospace, Maritime and Defense sector has seen 1.6K acquisitions and 757 IPOs. This represents almost 6.2% of all such companies - which is higher than the 4.1% exit rate of tech companies in general.

This sector includes companies engaged in the manufacturing, sales, and management of aircraft, spacecraft, ships, and defense equipment.

Aerospace, Maritime and Defense sector is also known as Traditional Defense and Transport, Aerospace & Ship Building or Military Industrial Sector.

Companies included in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense sector

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

Companies excluded in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense sector

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

Key Metrics

Total Companies

38.1K

Top Companies

Thales, Paras Defence & Space Technologies & more

Total Funding

Funded Companies

Series A+ Companies

Series C+ Companies

Unicorns Created

IPOs

757

Acquisitions

1.6K

Also known as

Traditional Defense and Transport or Aerospace & Ship Building

View complete details of this sector

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

Recent BlueBox/Industry Definition image of Aerospace, Maritime and Defense

There are more than 38.1K companies in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense. Thales is the top Aerospace, Maritime and Defense company globally, ranked using Tracxn Score (what's this?).

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

Company	Description	Location	Founded	Current Stage	Private Funding Raised
Thales	AI-based software suites for navigation applications	Paris (France)	1893	Public	-
Paras Defence & Space Technologies	Company offering wide range of defence products & solutions	Navi Mumbai (India)	1972	Public	$4.57M
Northrop Grumman	Provider of non-combat aircraft systems for aerospace and defense industries	Falls Church (United States)	1939	Public	-
NASA	Provider of government space exploration & research and news services	United States	1958	Funding Raised	-
Airbus Official	Manufacturer of commercial aircraft, helicopters, satellites, and launch vehicles	Blagnac (France)	2000	Public	-

Get a longer list of companies

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

373 new startups have been founded so far in 2026 in the Aerospace, Maritime and Defense sector. 689 Aerospace, Maritime and Defense startups were founded in 2020 - 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	373
2025	146
2024	147
2023	438
2022	576
2021	578
2020	689
2019	642
2018	625
2017	451

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

United States has 7,258 Aerospace, Maritime and Defense startups, the most by any country, followed by United Kingdom which has 2,957 startups and India which has 2,104.

Total Number of Companies

Country	No. of companies
United States	7,258
United Kingdom	2,957
India	2,104
Germany	1,120
Canada	687
Australia	590
China	533
Netherlands	497
France	468
Italy	450

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

Out of the total 38,086 Aerospace, Maritime and Defense companies, 2,521 have secured funding. Among them, 2,573 have reached Series A or higher, and 2,459 to Series B or beyond.

Founded - 38,086

Funded - 2,521

Series A+ - 2,573

Series B+ - 2,459

Series C+ - 2,410

Company Stage	No. of companies
Founded	38,086
Funded	2,521
Series A+	2,573
Series B+	2,459
Series C+	2,410

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38.1K+ Total Companies
$74.8B+ Total Funding
2.5K+ Funded Companies
755+ IPOs
1.6K+ Acquisitions
5+ Reports

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

The Aerospace, Maritime and Defense sector saw a total funding of more than $51.9B in the last 10 years. The most amount of funding was in 2019 at more than $18.7B. There has been a total funding of $5.52B in 2026 till date.

Total Funding

Year	Total Funding
2026	$5.52B
2025	$6.62B
2024	$2.07B
2023	$2.72B
2022	$1.55B
2021	$3.43B
2020	$2.01B
2019	$18.7B
2018	$5.22B
2017	$4.03B

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

In the last 10 years, Aerospace, Maritime and Defense startups in United States have recieved the highest funding among all countries - $30.6B. China follows with $2.91B and United Kingdom with $1.9B.

Total Funding

Country	Total Funding
United States	$30.6B
China	$2.91B
United Kingdom	$1.9B
France	$1.43B
Norway	$1.14B
Italy	$1.05B
India	$1.03B
Netherlands	$612M
Germany	$515M
Spain	$41.8M

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

Over the last 10 years, the Aerospace, Maritime and Defense sector have seen $701M into Seed Stage funding rounds, $5.03B into Early Stage funding rounds and $4.68B go into Late Stage funding rounds.

Funding Stage	Total Funding
Debt	$29.5B
Grant	$6.76B
Early Stage	$5.03B
Late Stage	$4.68B
Post IPO	$3.26B
PE	$1.19B
Seed Stage	$701M
Other-Equity	$592K

Recent Funding Rounds in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense

In the year 2026, till September 2026, Aerospace, Maritime and Defense companies have raised $3.36B in equity funding across 90 rounds. In the same period last year (i.e. till September 2025), Aerospace, Maritime and Defense companies had raised $1.83B across 87 rounds. So, 2026 has seen a 83.52% rise in funding in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense companies as compared to 2025.

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

Company	Round Raised	Amount Raised	Funding Date	Investors
Project S	Seed	2690	Sep 03, 2026	Uni.Fund
Castelion	Series C	3192	Aug 19, 2026	J P Morgan and 9 more
Cosmo-Bloom	Seed	8017	Aug 07, 2026	Taiyo Kogyo Corporation / MakMax and 5 more
Aurelius Systems	Series A	5815	Aug 05, 2026	Draper and 8 more
Farsound Aviation	Unattributed	8563	Aug 04, 2026	Neuberger Berman Capital Solutions and 1 more

See a more detailed list of funding rounds

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

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

Investor	Location	Top Portfolio Companies
Europa	Belgium	Thales, Airbus Official, Boeing and Saab
Military Health	Falls Church (United States)	Northrop Grumman, NASA, Boeing and RTX
NASA	United States	Northrop Grumman, Boeing, RTX and Lockheed Martin
OSTI	Oak Ridge (United States)	Northrop Grumman, Kratos, Boeing and RTX
National Science Foundation	Arlington (United States)	RTX, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Leidos

See a more detailed list of investors

In the year 2026, till September 2026, 108 acquisitions happened in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense sector. Last year, in 2025, a total of 150 acquisitions happened in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense sector.

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

Company	Acquisition Type	Acquisition Date	Acquirers
Sonatech	Business Acquisition	Sep 01, 2026	Kongsberg
Boeing	Business Acquisition	Aug 20, 2026	DCF Affiliates
FTS	Business Acquisition	Aug 17, 2026	Noblis
Grob-Aircraft	Business Acquisition	Aug 16, 2026	-
BlackSea	Business Acquisition	Aug 14, 2026	AEVEX Aerospace

See a more detailed list of acquisitions

Acquisition trends in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense

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

Total Number of Acquisitions

Year	No. of companies
2026	108
2025	150
2024	145
2023	127
2022	142
2021	129
2020	130
2019	136
2018	121
2017	93

In the year 2026, till August 2026, 8 IPOs happened in Aerospace, Maritime and Defense sector.

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

Company	IPO Date	Exchange Symbol
First Breach	Aug 20, 2026	National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ)
Lyntris	Aug 19, 2026	New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
Millworks Technologies	Jul 21, 2026	Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)
Applied Aerospace & Defense	Jun 03, 2026	New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
Gnsa	Apr 21, 2026	Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE)

See a more detailed list of IPOs

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

Most number of Aerospace, Maritime and Defense startups have been founded by alumni from Harvard University, University of California (Los Angeles) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

College	No. of companies
Harvard University	15
University of California (Los Angeles)	15
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	13
Stanford University	13
Harvard Business School	9
University of California (Berkeley)	8
Cornell University	6
IIT Madras	6
University of Pennsylvania	5
Carnegie Mellon University	4

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

In the last 10 years, Harvard University graduates' Aerospace, Maritime and Defense companies have raised the most funding among top colleges. University of California (Los Angeles) alumni are second, and Booth School of Business alumni are third.

College	Total Funding
Harvard University	$8.31B
University of California (Los Angeles)	$3.71B
Booth School of Business	$1.58B
University of Chicago	$1.58B
INSEAD	$941M
Duke University	$727M
Harvard Business School	$377M
NYU Stern School of Business	$376M
Columbia University	$310M
Stanford University	$188M