March's Space Dirt 🚀

I hope your March is going better than my NCAA bball bracket!

Sharing lots of good stuff this month.

Let’s go!

REAL ESTATE HIGHLIGHTS

Gallatin leased 6,000 SF at 131 Eucalyptus Street, El Segundo, CA. (source: Me!)

Gram Corporation leased 3,380 SF at 126 Arena Street, El Segundo, CA. (source: Me!)

Amidon Heavy Industries leased 2,500 SF at 1140 E Franklin Ave, El Segundo, CA. (source: Me!)

THE BR-DGE leased 20,796 SF at 777 S Aviation Blvd, El Segundo, CA. (source: Me!)

Northwood leased 35,250 SF at 20701 Manhattan Pl, Torrance, CA. (source: Me!)

Castelion leased 89,272 SF at 19951 Mariner Ave, Torrance, CA. This is the former Canoo building. (source: Me!)

Claros leased 4,287 SF at 21515 Hawthorne Blvd, Torrance, CA. (source: Me!)

Trio Manufacturing leased 123,189 SF at 17006 S Figueroa Street, Carson, CA.

X-Bow Systems opened a new Indian Head, MD office. This facility supports $67 million in US Navy modernization contracts to date to revitalize America's energetics & munitions sector. (source: LinkedIn)

SpaceX is expanding its Starship operations in Florida, bringing Starship production and launch capabilities to the Space Coast. As flight testing and development of Starship continues at Starbase in Texas, SpaceX is building a new integration facility, called Gigabay, next to its HangarX location at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. (source: SpaceX) 

STEALTH NO MORE

✈️ Cofounder Eric Button emerged from stealth with @EnhancedRadar via an X post. Enhanced Radar is building AI for air traffic control. Their sensors & SoTA models help detect and prevent human error, the first step toward human-in-the-loop safety systems.

💻 Kela Technologies, a defense tech startup established in the wake of the October 7 attacks by Hamutal Meridor, has been officially unveiled. Kela has completed an $11 million Seed round led by Sequoia, followed almost immediately by a $28 million Series A round led by Lux Capital. Together, the funding brings Kela's total capital raised to $39 million since its founding in July 2024. The company has developed an open platform that enables Western militaries to integrate cutting-edge commercial technologies into military systems. (source: CTECH)

🧪 From Pirate Wires: Jake Adler, the 20-year-old founder of Pilgrim, a company working to leverage nanotechnology, bioelectronics, autonomous sensors, and AI systems to usher in a new era of supersoldiers and anti-threat biosurveillance. The company recently raised a $3.25 million round led by Thiel Capital, Cantos, and Refactor to pursue this vision.

🌊 Seagate Space has emerged from stealth mode to bridge space and maritime with a mobile offshore rocket launch platform that can be repositioned by sea, truck, or rail.
CEO Michael Anderson says the goal is to “democratize access to space,” making offshore operations safer and more cost-effective. This flexible, modular approach eases congestion at major spaceports and lowers barriers for emerging launch companies.

💡El Segundo’s Vanguard Defense emerged from stealth via an X post from Discipulus Ventures. Vanguard Defense is providing the data infrastructure needed to power the next generation of military tech, starting with EW. They are looking for founding engineers & model supervisors to help scale their platform.

🔌 Data center startup Claros will emerge from stealth with $9.75 million in funding to commercialize tech that cuts energy loss at data centers. Claros' goal is "reinventing how energy flows from the grid to the chip," founder and CEO Dan Kultran said in a statement. Backers include incubator Red Cell Partners, General Catalyst, the VC arm of the state-affiliated Virginia Innovation Partnership Corp., and Composite Capital Partners. (source: Axios)

Join over 1,500 of the best & brightest in the hard tech community and subscribe to the only commercial real estate hard tech newsletter, Space Dirt!

REAL ESTATE CORNER

Looking to lease space?

Reply to this email - I'll give you a few ideas.

-Erik

If you’re looking for 5,000 SF of office space in prime Smoky Hollow, DM me. This is the space👇.

NOTABLE FUNDINGS

Epirus announced an oversubscribed $250 million Series D fundraising round, bringing the company’s total venture funding to more than $550 million and positioning the company to scale production of its Leonidas™ product line to meet growing global demand. The round was led by 8VC and Washington Harbour Partners LP, alongside a deep roster of return investors including StepStone Group, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Investment Management, Inc., Gaingels, and strategic defense partner General Dynamics Land Systems, and new investors, including Oppenheimer’s Private Market Opportunities Vista VI Fund, NightDragon, Manhattan Venture Partners, Centaurus Capital LP, Center15 Capital, and Protagonist. (source: Epirus)

Shield AI announced it has completed a $240 million, F-1 strategic funding round, raising the company's valuation to $5.3 billion. The financing was completed with major participation from strategic investors L3Harris and Hanwha Aerospace, as well as participation from existing investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, US Innovative Technology, and Washington Harbour. The funds will enable Shield AI to expand the deployment of Hivemind Enterprise to OEMs, governments, and companies to empower the larger robotics and drone industrial base to build autonomy products. (source: PR Newswire)

Zeitview, the leader in visual AI for critical infrastructure, announces a capital raise of $60 million led by Climate Investment, with participation from current investors Valor Equity Partners, Union Square Ventures, Upfront Ventures, Euclidean Capital, Energy Transition Ventures, Hearst Ventures, and Y Combinator. (source: Business Wire)

Neros announced a $35 million Series A funding round led by Vy Capital US. In addition to the fresh lead investor, Neros gained commitments from new and existing partners, with Sequoia Capital, Interlagos, D3, and Keller Rinaudo Cliffton (CEO, Zipline) participating. This capital will go directly to the large-scale production effort the company is now undertaking, as well as the development of next-generation defense systems. (source: Medium)

Capture6, whose integrated system converts waste brine into both fresh water and carbon removal solutions, announces $27.5 million in Series A and project funding. Capture6 was advised by financial advisor Rothschild & Co. for the capital raise and the round was led by private equity firm Tetrad Corporation, with participation by Hyundai Motor Group's ZER01NE Ventures, Energy Capital Ventures, Elemental Impact, Bridge Investment, Sopoong Ventures, Third Derivative, Stan and Jane Rodbell, and the Jacob S Shapiro Foundation. The Series A raise will allow Capture6 to advance core water recovery and carbon removal projects in its global pipeline. (source: PR Newswire)

Rune Technologies has secured $6.2 million in seed funding to revolutionize military logistics. Andreessen Horowitz led the round with additional investments from Point72 Ventures and XYZ Venture Capital, as well as individual investments from several leading defense technology executives, including Anduril SVP of Software Gokul Subramanian, Vannevar Labs CEO Brett Granberg, Cape CEO John Doyle, and Forterra CGO Scott Sanders, amongst others. Rune's innovative TyrOS software aims to enhance situational awareness and predictive logistics for the military, helping commanders manage supply chains effectively in contested environments. (source: CityBiz)

Proteus Space announced the successful closure of a $6.1 million Seed-2 venture capital fundraising round, led by Lavrock Ventures with participation from major investors, The Veteran Fund, SAIC, Crosscut Ventures, and Moonshots Capital. This funding will accelerate the development and deployment of MERCURY™ and other cutting-edge Rapid Access to Space (“RAS”) solutions, further solidifying Proteus’ leadership in transforming the cost, schedule, and reliability paradigm for custom satellite buses. (source: SpaceNews)

San Francisco, CA’s Samara Aerospace is not disclosing the size of its pre-seed round led by R7 Partners. Mana Ventures, Illinois Ventures, Tech Stars, and What If Ventures contributed to the round. Samara Aerospace is preparing for spaceflight testing of its satellite-pointing technology with funds raised in a pre-seed investment round. (source: SpaceNews)

AGREEMENTS, PARTNERSHIPS, & CONTRACTS

Rocket Lab recently executed a non-binding term sheet to acquire a controlling ownership stake in Mynaric subject to completing a previously announced restructuring plan and regulatory review process. Mynaric is a leading provider of laser optical communications terminals for air, space, and mobile applications. With an initial purchase price expected to be approximately $75 million, representing a fraction of the over $300 million invested in Mynaric to-date, Rocket Lab would establish its first European foothold in Munich, Germany, with a team of 300+ talented engineers and staff, opening up incremental European growth opportunities across Rocket Lab’s products and services offerings. (source: RocketLab)

Epirus and Peraton will collaborate on a Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) Information Analysis Center (IAC) Multiple Award Contract (MAC) recently awarded to Peraton by the US Air Force’s 774^th Enterprise Sourcing Squadron. The DTIC IAC MAC is an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract vehicle with a $48 billion ceiling supporting the Department of Defense Information Analysis Center (DoD IAC). (source: Epirus)

Boeing won a contract to develop a next-generation combat aircraft for the US Air Force that will spearhead future air wars and throw a lifeline to the company’s struggling military aviation business. The White House announcement came after a tumultuous competition between Boeing and Lockheed Martin for the prized rights to build the aircraft that is meant to anchor the Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) family of systems. (source: Aviation Week)

Gravitics, Inc. announced it has been selected for a Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) by SpaceWERX of the United States Space Force with potential funding of up to $60 million between government funds, Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funds, and private funds to demonstrate and fly the Orbital Carrier, a groundbreaking solution for tactically responsive space. (source: Gravitics)

Denver, Colorado’s earth-observation startup Albedo won a US Air Force Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) contract with a potential value of $12 million. The contract supports Albedo’s campaign to send satellites into very low Earth orbit (VLEO) to gather visible and thermal imagery. (source: SpaceNews)

X-Bow Systems announced it has been selected for a new $7 million contract with Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head Division (NSWC IHD), the Navy's premier facility for energetics and munitions. This contract will focus on implementing cutting-edge technology to further modernize the Indian Head facility, enhancing efficiency, speed, and cost-effectiveness, in alignment with the DoD's focus on streamlining operations and maximizing productivity. This award builds upon X-Bow's existing partnership with NSWC IHD. (source: PR Newswire)

Delta Air Lines is partnering with JetZero on a revolutionary, more sustainable aircraft that looks and feels like nothing flying today’s commercial skies. The California-based startup’s vastly more fuel-efficient blended-wing-body (BWB) design is at the center of the collaboration and is one facet of Delta’s ongoing journey to advance industry innovation, drive down cost through increased fuel savings, elevate the customer experience, and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. (source: Delta)

Long Beach’s Exlabs and Antares announced a strategic partnership to develop a nuclear-powered spacecraft for deep-space missions. Exlabs’ initial missions, including its 2028 campaign to rendezvous with the asteroid Apophis, will not rely on nuclear power. But, the company’s modular spacecraft, called Science Exploration and Resource Vehicle (SERV), will be designed to accommodate Antares microreactors. Exlabs plans to send a spacecraft equipped with an Antares’ nuclear microreactor to geostationary orbit in late 2028 or 2029. (source: SpaceNews)

WHAT I’M CONSUMING (AND ENJOYING!) 

📰 Two Gundo companies mentioned in the below WSJ articles:

• America Turns to Ukraine to Build Better Drones (CX2)

• Military Startups and Investors Adapt to Shifting U.S. Role in Ukraine (Picogrid)

🇺🇸 Andreesen Horowitz released its American Dynamism list for 2025. “The fight of the future is already underway across factories, testing labs, and R&D hubs in El Segundo, San Francisco, Austin, and beyond. These 50 companies aren’t just strengthening America’s ability to avoid conflict, they’re re-industrializing America in the process — and that’s an even bigger win.”

🚢 Unlike cars, planes, or factory machinery, no two ships are exactly alike. Sean Simons gives us his take on the obstacles that must be addressed to revitalize the US shipbuilding industry.

⚡️ Hermeus, cofounder and CEO, A.J. Piplica, gives us his outline “for America to take back the lead in hypersonics the same way we always have — by building, testing, and flying faster than anyone, anywhere.”

HOW I CAN HELP YOU

Some people only know me as “that Space Dirt newsletter guy.” Although I love that moniker, here are 3* ways I can help with your hard tech real estate when the time is right.

1. A new home for your growing business. The good news - you’re growing! The bad news - you need to move, and you don’t know the hard tech real estate market. I can help. And I come with strong references.

2. Sublease your space. You’ve outgrown your space and need to move but don’t want to pay two rents? I got you.

3. Time to renew your lease? Want to make sure you’re getting a fair deal from your Landlord? In my experience, you can never be too certain. (BTW, I recommend starting the lease renewal process 12 months out at a minimum.)

*Not an exhaustive list 💪

Thanks for reading.

If you’d like your office and/or manufacturing space or business profiled - or even your city! - let me know. It’s always fun to explore and share the different components of the hard tech industry.

Erik Stiebel
Founder and Vice President
CA DRE License #02080746
424.241.4795 | [email protected] 
Follow me on 𝕏