AI-Driven Defense Tech: How HavocAI's Maritime Autonomy Breakthrough Exemplifies Our Three-Tier Investment Framework, Fundings: Chainguard, Anthropic, SpecterOps
19 March 2025 - A Weekly Publication by New North Ventures
Insights from Partner Rob May's Latest on AI Acquisition Strategy
In his recent piece on AI-driven acquisitions, NNV Partner Rob May outlines a framework that resonates deeply with our dual-use tech investment thesis. While he approaches it from a PE angle, the core principles align perfectly with how we evaluate investment opportunities.
"Venture Upside, PE Downside"
May captures what we've long believed: AI-enhanced defense companies can deliver explosive growth potential while maintaining the downside protection of stable government contracts. It's this balance that continues to drive our portfolio construction.
The Three Levels of AI Transformation
May's three-tier framework translates exceptionally well to dual-use tech focused on national security:
Common AI: The table stakes every defense contractor needs - predictive maintenance, basic analytics, and operational chatbots. Necessary but rarely differentiating.
Proprietary AI: The immediate value creators - company-specific AI applications that transform existing workflows. May's example of automating image processing saved $800K annually; we see similar opportunities in defense tech operations that still rely on manual processes.
Future AI: Our favorite hunting ground - identifying dual-use companies with data assets that will appreciate dramatically as AI capabilities evolve. Think sensor networks, threat intelligence databases, and simulation environments.
Where We're Looking
We're actively seeking startups and founders where this framework reveals hidden value - game-changing and market making ideas with:
Proprietary data or workflows that AI can transform
Stable revenue pathways to provide downside protection
Technical teams ready for AI augmentation
Have a dual-use tech company that fits this model? Our investment team would love to connect.
In a significant advancement for autonomous maritime systems, HavocAI has achieved several noteworthy milestones that validate our investment thesis in defense-focused autonomy solutions.
Deployment at Scale
HavocAI has moved beyond the prototype phase to demonstrate genuine operational scale with their Rampage USV (Unmanned Surface Vehicle) platform:
15 systems now deployed with U.S. Navy customers
5 systems allocated to Army operations in the Pacific theater
10 additional systems in production for a West Coast Department of Defense client
This rapid scaling demonstrates both the technical readiness of their platform and the growing demand for maritime autonomy solutions among defense customers.
Dual-Path Autonomy Architecture
What continues to differentiate HavocAI in an increasingly crowded maritime autonomy market is their innovative dual-approach:
Proprietary Algorithms: Battle-hardened through extensive operational deployments in challenging maritime environments
Open Architecture Framework: Engineered to allow defense partners to integrate their own autonomy solutions while maintaining system integrity
This approach directly addresses one of the defense sector's most persistent challenges: balancing technological superiority with interoperability across systems and partners.
Investment Implications
HavocAI exemplifies our firm's thesis on AI-enhanced dual-use technology:
They've developed proprietary AI capabilities (Level 2 in Rob May's framework discussed above)
Their platforms generate valuable operational data that will appreciate in value (Level 3 Future AI)
Their contract structure provides stable revenue while maintaining high growth potential
Harnessing AI to Understand China's Grand Strategy
The Irregular Warfare Initiative examines how artificial intelligence can help decode Chinese strategic thinking. The author describes PRC-StrateGPT, an AI model built to "think like a CCP strategist" by integrating various Chinese doctrinal sources, philosophical works, and strategy documents. When tested against real-world events in the Solomon Islands (2019-2022), the model successfully predicted many of China's actual moves, including their approach to "gradually rebuild influence over the next 6-12 months before attempting any further major agreements" following public backlash to initial deals.
The article highlights how AI can bridge critical gaps in Western understanding of Chinese doctrine and strategy. "A significant gap remains in synthesizing PRC military doctrine, CCP thought, and traditional Chinese philosophy into a cohesive theory of modern CCP geostrategy. Artificial intelligence models may offer new ways to bridge this divide," writes author Umar Ahmed Badami. This type of technology could provide valuable insights for analysts working to comprehend China's multi-domain operations and whole-of-government approaches using instruments of national power - particularly when Chinese strategic vision has "long [been] concealed behind a great information wall."
More links to explore:
Founded: 2021
Key People: CEO Dan Lorenc
Elevator Pitch: Developer of a supply chain security software intended to improve software supply chain security. The company's software applies zero-trust principles to supply chain protection to make the software lifecycle secure by default and uses compliant-build systems and integrations, enabling businesses to manage their supply chain security risks.
Funding: The company is in talks to raise $350 million of venture funding led by Kleiner Perkins on 11 March 2025.
Founded: 2021
Key People: CEO Dario Amodei
Elevator Pitch: Developer of a large language model platform designed for business-critical use cases. The company's platform understands and generates human-like text, maintains context across multiple turns in a conversation, and adapts to specific use cases and requirements, enabling organizations to improve efficiency, creativity, and decision-making.
Funding: The company is in the process of raising $750 million of venture funding in the form of convertible debt from Alphabet as of 11 March 2025.
Founded: 2017
Key People: CTO David McGuire
Elevator Pitch: Developer of cybersecurity software designed to protect and defend the system's operational data from advanced attacks.
Funding: The company raised $75 million of Series B venture funding in a deal led by Insight Partners on 5 March 2025.
In our most recent episode of the Securing Our Future Podcast, general partner Jeremy Hitchcock sits down with Paul Thompson, a 20-year Army Special Forces veteran now helping bridge critical technology gaps at Morgan 6 LLC. Together, they dive into how commercial and national security sectors collaborate to drive innovation.
