Overland AI scales ULTRA UGV production for U.S. military

Overland AI announced it has raised $100 million in new funding to scale deployment of autonomous ground systems across the U.S. Armed Forces, as demand for operational ground autonomy accelerates beyond experimentation.

According to the company, the equity round was led by 8VC, with continued participation from Point72 Ventures, Ascend Venture Capital, Shasta Ventures, and Overmatch Ventures, alongside new investors including Valor Equity Partners and StepStone Group. The total funding package also includes a $20 million venture debt facility provided by TriplePoint Capital.

Overland AI said the funding will support expanded manufacturing, field support, and operational integration as its autonomous systems move into regular use by U.S. military units. The company’s primary platform, the ULTRA unmanned ground vehicle, is designed to operate autonomously in complex off-road and GPS-denied environments at tactically relevant speeds.

“Demand for ground autonomy has moved decisively from experimentation to operational integration,” said Stephanie Bonk, co-founder and president of Overland AI. “This funding allows us to scale alongside the units adopting our technology. We are training warfighters directly and incorporating continuous feedback to ensure our systems perform in real-world conditions, while building the trust required for operational use.”

The company said ULTRA UGVs have already been used to support autonomous resupply missions following mass tactical airborne insertions with the 82nd Airborne Division of the U.S. Army. Overland AI stated that its systems are being fielded across missions including contested logistics, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, counter-unmanned aircraft operations, and breaching.

Overland AI’s growth accelerated in 2025 following completion of the DARPA RACER program, which focused on robotic autonomy in complex environments. The company said three years of testing and iteration under the program helped mature its autonomy stack for operational use by military units.

According to Overland AI, the ULTRA platform has been deployed with multiple U.S. Army and Marine Corps formations, including the 1st Cavalry Division, 173rd Airborne Brigade, 36th Engineer Brigade, and 2nd Marine Logistics Group, as well as U.S. Special Operations Command units. The company also confirmed a partnership with CAL FIRE to support wildfire mitigation and suppression, applying the same autonomy in civilian operations.

Joe Lonsdale, managing partner at 8VC, said the funding round reflects confidence in Overland AI’s technology and its performance in field testing. “Overland developed the most advanced ground autonomy in the world, dominating competitions and field tests. This raise will get ULTRA into the fight faster,” Lonsdale said.

Overland AI has also integrated its autonomy stack, known as OverDrive, onto platforms such as the Textron Ripsaw M5 during Army and DARPA demonstrations. These efforts focused on human-machine teaming, allowing a single operator to supervise multiple robotic vehicles during complex missions.

The company highlighted breaching operations as a key use case. In recent exercises, Overland AI worked with the 36th Engineer Brigade and subordinate units to integrate autonomous ground vehicles into obstacle breaching scenarios. These operations combined autonomous and manned systems to reduce risk to combat engineers during mine-clearing and obstacle reduction tasks.

“We have seen such success this past year because the ground autonomy we are delivering to warfighters actually works,” said Byron Boots, co-founder and chief executive officer of Overland AI. “We were right to solve the hardest problem first by building core autonomy for individual vehicle intelligence.”

Overland AI said the new funding will allow it to scale production of ULTRA UGVs and expand teams responsible for fielding and sustainment, ensuring systems remain operational as they are adopted by additional units. The company noted that interest is also growing among allied partner nations.