Aventra Defense Systems has raised $17.5 million in a strategic fundraise led by Konvoy. Existing investor Lavrock Ventures participated alongside new investors Booz Allen Ventures, Sands Capital and Langford Industries. Western Alliance Bank provided a funding facility as part of the financing.
Founded in 2025 by Michael Weigand, Brian Retherford and Jessup Meng, the Herndon, Virginia-based defense technology company develops autonomous stratospheric intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and precision effects systems. Its Piranha platform is a balloon-deployed autonomous precision payload system designed for ISR, electronic warfare and kinetic mission sets from stratospheric altitudes.
Aventra plans to use the financing to accelerate Piranha production and flight testing while expanding its product roadmap with additional platforms for long-range strike, one-way attack and ISR applications.
The company said Piranha has completed 400 flights demonstrating capabilities including autonomous stratospheric reentry, long-range glide and precision kinetic and ISR effects delivery. Aventra has also tested the system during exercises including the U.S. Army’s Arcane Thunder 26, a multi-domain exercise conducted in the United States, Germany and Poland.
