About SDF
SDF is a venture capital firm founded in 2019. It is primarily based out of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. As of Mar 2026, SDF is an active investor, having invested in 20 companies, with 1 new investment in the last 12 months. It primarily invests in Series B round in United States based startups. Its investments are spread across a wide range of sectors from High Tech to Environment Tech and Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech. Most recently it participated in the $***** Series E round of HawkEye 360 Overall, SDF portfolio has seen 2 IPOs and 1 acquisition, namely HawkEye 360, Beam and Electro Optic Systems. A lot of funds co-invest with SDF, with names like ST Engineering sharing a substantial percentage of its portfolio. SDF has team of 21 people including 1 partners.Key Metrics
Team Members
Portfolio Count
Portfolio Sectors
Portfolio Locations
Rounds of Entry
Series B, Seed & 5 more
Portfolio IPOs
Portfolio Acquisitions
Portfolio Soonicorns
Deals in last 12 months
SDF's List of Top Investments
SDF has a portfolio of 20 companies. Their most notable investments are in Cranfield Aerospace and Vaarst.Their portfolio spans across United States, United Kingdom, Israel and 7 more locations. They have invested in High Tech, Environment Tech, Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech and 12 other sectors, across stages such as Series B, Seed and 5 more. Here is the list of top investments by SDF:
1. Rovco
Provider of AI-driven ROVs and services for inspection of ships. Its product and service portfolio includes powerful electric work-class vehicles with e vectored thrust, compact inspection class ROV, a compact survey ROV, a workhorse of the Rovco fleet, and a compact ROV that comes with a manipulator, rear-facing camera, smart tether, sonar, blue view, HD or 4K camera. It also leverages AI technology for surveys and inspection.
Key facts about Rovco
- Founded Year: 2016
- Location: Bristol (United Kingdom)
- Annual Revenue: £10M - £50M as on Dec 31, 2022
- Last Known Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Deadpooled
- Total Funding till date: $38.5M
- Employee Count: 50 as on Dec 31, 2020
- Investors: Equinor, Messebauer and 32 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series B, Jul 15, 2022, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
Developer of short-wave infrared sensing solutions for various applications. The company provides imaging and three-dimensional depth sensing under all visibility conditions. It offers sensors and development kits for integration into vision systems. These systems are applicable to autonomous vehicles, industrial robotics, and biometric systems.
Key facts about Trieye Technologies
- Founded Year: 2017
- Location: Israel
- Stage: Series C
- Total Funding till date: $96M
- Employee Count: 100 as on May 31, 2026
- Investors: Intel Capital, Grove Ventures and 13 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series C, Nov 10, 2021, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
3. HawkEye 360
Developer of satellite-based geographic monitoring and communication solutions. It provides users with a constellation of small satellites in low Earth orbit, to generate reports on wireless signals that can be used to track and monitor global transportation networks, assist with emergencies, and provide other data analytics services to various industries. It also provides maritime situational awareness, collecting information about vessels to create a wealth of current and historical data useful for commercial planning and monitoring, and emergency response.
Key facts about HawkEye 360
- Founded Year: 2015
- Location: Herndon (United States)
- Stage: Public
- Total Funding till date: $560M
- Employee Count: 267 as on May 31, 2026
- Investors: Saints Capital, Hercules Capital and 42 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series E, Mar 04, 2026, $*****
- Highlight: Public
4. Dronamics
Developer of UAVs for transporting cargo. It offers products that are optimized for heavy payloads and long-range, for use in commercial and special logistics missions.
Key facts about Dronamics
5. Beam
Technology company that provides sustainable infrastructure solutions. It provides innovative and sustainable infrastructure solutions for the electrification of transportation and energy security. The company offers a range of products, including the solar-powered ebike charging system and the curbside EV charging product line, which combines solar, wind, and utility-generated electricity for charging.
Key facts about Beam
- Founded Year: 2016
- Location: Stans (Switzerland)
- Annual Revenue: £10M - £50M as on Dec 31, 2023
- Last Known Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Acquired
- Total Funding till date: $39M
- Employee Count: 106 as on Dec 31, 2023
- Investors: Equinor, In-Q-Tel and 9 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series A, Oct 2024, $*****
- Highlight: Acquired
SDF's Year-on-Year Investment Trends
SDF has invested in 20 companies over the last 7 years, with an average of 3 new investments annually in the last 5 years. In 2025, it made 1 investment, while as of Mar 2026, it has made 2 investments in this year. Its most recent first time investment was in Machina Labs and most recent follow-on round was in HawkEye 360.Year | No. of Investments | ||
|---|---|---|---|
1st Round | Follow-on | Total | |
2026 (YTD) | 1 | 1 | 2 |
2025 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
2024 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2023 | 6 | 1 | 7 |
2022 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
2021 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
2020 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2019 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
SDF's Investments by Stage
SDF has made 4 investments in Series B stage with an average round size of $50.5M, 3 investments in Seed stage with an average round size of $21.5M and 3 investments in Series C stage with an average round size of $81.9M.Stage of entry | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Series B | 4 |
Seed | 3 |
Series C | 3 |
Series A | 2 |
Series D | 1 |
Others | 2 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
SDF's Investments by Sector
SDF has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech, High Tech, Enterprise Applications, Environment Tech and Sustainability Tech. Notably, it has invested in 16 Enterprise (B2B) companies, 15 Tech companies, 12 Tech hardware companies and at least 8 companies focusing on Software.Sector | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech | 9 |
High Tech | 9 |
Enterprise Applications | 4 |
Environment Tech | 3 |
Sustainability Tech | 3 |
Others | 19 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
SDF's Investments by Geography
SDF has made most investments in United States (6), followed by United Kingdom where it has made 3 investments.Country | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
United States | 6 |
United Kingdom | 3 |
Israel | 2 |
Bulgaria | 1 |
France | 1 |
Others | 2 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
SDF's recent investments
SDF has made 2 investments in 2026 so far - HawkEye 360 and Machina Labs.Here are the most recent investments by SDF:
Filter this listDate | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mar 04, 2026 | United States | Series E | 5892 | ||
Feb 04, 2026 | United States | Series C | 1683 | [+2] | |
Jun 04, 2025 | United States | Series A | 7996 | ||
Jul 07, 2023 | United States | Series D | 9689 | [+6] | |
Jun 28, 2023 | United States | Series B | 8668 | [+3] |
IPOs and Publicly Listed companies in SDF's Portfolio
2 of SDF's portfolio companies have become public. HawkEye 360 got listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), in May 2026 at marketcap of $2.42B and Electro Optic Systems got listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) at marketcap of $1.69M.Here are SDF's portfolio companies that went public:
Company | IPO Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
May 07, 2026 | Nov 05, 2021 | Series D | 4972 | |
Oct 23, 2000 | - | - | 2102 |
Acquired companies in SDF's Portfolio
1 company from SDF's portfolio has been acquired. The most recent acquisition was Beam in Jul 2025 by Rosen-Nxt for $*****.Here are SDF's portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:
Company | Acquisition Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Jul 04, 2025 | - | - | 6888 |
Team profile of SDF
SDF has a team of 21 members including 1 Partner and 5 Principals located in United Arab Emirates and The Gambia. SDF's team does not sit on the board of any company as of now.Here is a list of top team members in SDF:
Name | Designation | Location | Board Memberships | Contact Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Partner | United Arab Emirates | - | ||
Principal | Abu Dhabi | - | ||
Principal | The Gambia | - | ||
Principal | Abu Dhabi | - | ||
Principal | Abu Dhabi | - | ||
Principal | Abu Dhabi | - |
Co-investors of SDF
Over the past 7 years, 92 investors have co-invested in SDF's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.
- Invested before SDF: Grove Ventures, Woodford Investment Management and 47 others have invested in rounds before SDF. There are 2 companies where Grove Ventures has invested before SDF and 2 companies where Woodford Investment Management has invested before SDF.
- Top Co-investors of SDF: 31 investors entered a company along with SDF. These include investors like ST Engineering (2 companies).
- Invested after SDF: A total of 12 investors have invested in SDF's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include BlackRock (1 company), Manhattan Venture Partners (1 company) and Lockheed Martin (1 company).
Recent News related to SDF
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HawkEye 360 Raises Additional $23M in Series E FundingFinSMEs•Mar 04, 2026•Ghisallo Capital Management, Principia Growth, SDF, Sixty Degree Capital and 1 other
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Strategic Development Fund and QuantCube Launch Joint Venture for AI Data Analytics in UAEGlobeNewswire•Apr 10, 2025•SDF, Quant Cube
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REGENT & UAE fund partner to build seaglider manufacturing & services JV.Benzinga•Feb 26, 2025•REGENT Craft, SDF
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Lockheed Martin Ventures Invests In, Signs Strategic Agreement With HawkEye 360ExecutiveBiz•Oct 19, 2023•Lockheed Martin, HawkEye 360, Manhattan Venture Partners, Insight Partners and 2 others
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Venture Capital: REGENT Lands $60M For Eco-Friendly Electric SeaglidersDailyAlts•Oct 09, 2023•REGENT Craft, Lockheed Martin, Yamato Holdings, Point72 Ventures and 9 others
