Skapion, an Israel defense tech company developing a Native Counter Swarm system for the next generation of unmanned aerial threats, announced Thursday that it raised $36 million during its Seed round.
The round was co-led by UP.Partners and Khosla Ventures, with participation from early backers Fusion VC, Stratos Ventures, TBD VC and q Fund.
The announcement comes as drones and one-way attack UAVs continue to have a significant impact on the battlefield. What emerged as an improvised military tactic used first by the Islamic State in Syria and later by Ukraine has made its way back to the Middle East as Hezbollah continues to field cheap fiber-optic drones, hitting IDF troops and platforms.
Skapion is developing a mobile, end-to-end system designed not only to detect but also to engage and neutralize drones and UAVs at swarm scale. At the same time, the system can operate independently in communications-limited and environmentally challenging conditions (conditions frequently exploited by swarm drones), alongside maneuvering forces, fixed installations, and critical infrastructure.
While past interceptors could detect and neutralize more expensive, distinct aerial threats, Skapion’s system is built for mass onslaught, lower-cost attacks.
According to Ido Bar-On, Skapion’s co-founder and CEO, “the question is no longer whether a single drone can be detected or hit. The question is whether modern militaries can neutralize swarms at the speed, scale and cost required by today’s battlefield.
[Garnering $36 million, the round helped] accelerate development, expand the engineering organization and keep building the team required to solve one of the most urgent defense challenges of the coming decade,” he added.
The company argues that since 2022, low-cost UAS have moved from a “specialized tactical capability to a structural air-defense challenge for military forces, bases and critical infrastructure.” Used at volume, these platforms impose an asymmetric burden and force defenders to use expensive interceptors against cheaper and more numerous threats like swarms. By doing that, hostile forces like Hezbollah have exposed a gap in systems not built for large-scale simultaneous engagements.
With troops facing imminent FPV and fiber optic drone threats on a daily basis in Lebanon, Israeli defense tech companies have announced new C-UAS platforms. Nevertheless, many of those technologies cannot handle drone swarms. Used at high volume, these expendable drones are able to bypass many systems.
"The Iron Dome changed the calculus for rockets and missiles. Skapion is doing the same for drone swarms. The threat has evolved from single, expensive projectiles to cheap drones attacking in numbers, and defense needs to evolve with it,” said Ben Marcus, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, UP.Partners.
Skapion's founding team is made up of former Israel Air Force officers who specialize in air defense, including Founding Architect and co-founder Brig.-Gen. (Res.) Pini Yungman, who acted as General Manager of Rafael’s Air and Missile Defense Systems division and President and CEO of TSG Group. Yungman is deeply rooted in Israel’s defense ecosystem and recognized for his contributions to the David’s Sling and Iron Dome programs.
Bar-On previously led the defense and government business across international markets at XTEND, and is also a former IDF special-operations Lieutenant Colonel (reserve).
The team is rounded out by Gal Goren, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO), who is a multidisciplinary engineering leader with experience developing complex technology systems. Zafrir Yoeli previously co-founded Enlight Renewable Energy, and Yaron Karp is a veteran defense entrepreneur.
Established in late 2025, Skapion has several dozen employees, including senior engineering, defense, aerospace, robotics, autonomy and deep-tech talent.
The $36 million raised in the round will support hiring, engineering development, system validation alongside government, defense and partner engagement in Israel, the United States and allied markets.
Skapion is headquartered in Washington, DC, with a research and development center in Ramat Gan, Israel.