Benchmark Leads $25M Seed Round in Missile Interceptor Startup Furientis

Benchmark has led a $25 million seed round into Furientis, a one-year-old startup mass-producing low-cost interceptor missiles, marking the venture firm's first bet on a pure defense company. The startup was valued at $125 million, according to a person familiar with the company. Furientis has already secured a funded Pentagon contract to build mid-range interceptors, following a $5 million pre-seed announced in May. Co-founders Brody Franzen, a former Virgin Galactic deputy chief engineer, and Aris Simsarian, who led rocket engine testing at Virgin Orbit, said the U.S. Navy receives only 300 to 500 interceptors annually, while China claims production of 3,000 anti-ship cruise missiles a month. The company designs systems assembled quickly from readily available components, testing missiles bi-weekly. It targets 1,000 systems annually per factory, operating from Los Angeles with trials at White Sands, New Mexico. Benchmark's Chetan Puttagunta said the sector has room for many competitors, including Anduril, Castelion, and Shield AI.