In a Pacific conflict, the nearest U.S. drone factory is thousands of miles away. Ships and planes carrying parts to the front lines would be vulnerable to attack. Defense startup Firestorm Labs thinks the answer is a drone factory that fits inside a shipping container.
The company announced on Wednesday that it has raised $82 million in Series B funding led by Washington Harbour Partners with participation from NEA, Ondas, In-Q-Tel, Lockheed Martin, Booz Allen Ventures, Geodesic, Motley Fool Ventures, and others, bringing its total funding to $153 million.
Firestorm didn’t start out as a factory company. It began as a drone maker, but when customers started asking to move production closer to the front lines, the founders saw an opportunity to pivot.
Firestorm Labs CEO Dan Magy is a serial defense tech entrepreneur. His co-founders bring complementary backgrounds: Chad McCoy is a career special operations veteran, and CTO Ian Muceus holds over a dozen patents in 3D printing.
The San Diego-based startup makes xCell, a containerized manufacturing platform that can print drone systems in under 24 hours. The drones aren’t locked into a single purpose. Depending on mission requirements, they can be configured for surveillance or electronic warfare, Magy told TechCrunch. When asked whether the platforms are capable of lethal operations, Magy confirmed they are. All platforms are delivered to uniformed Department of Defense operational commands, who deploy them in accordance with military doctrine.
It’s not just startups like Firestorm taking notice. The Pentagon has made contested logistics — keeping weapons and supplies moving under fire — one of only six national critical technology areas. Firestorm generates revenue through hardware sales and government contracts across all branches of the U.S. military. The Air Force contract carries a $100 million ceiling, though only $27 million has been obligated so far.
The technology has already seen real-world use. Currently, two xCell units are deployed domestically; one with the Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome, New York, and one with Air Force Special Operations Command in Florida, Magy said. Firestorm declined to specify which units in the Indo-Pacific are using xCell, though the company says the platform is operational in the region.
Inside each xCell container sits an industrial-grade HP 3D printer that prints the body and shell of each drone. Under the deal, Firestorm holds a five-year global exclusive with HP to use its industrial 3D printing technology in mobile deployment units, Magy said. The weapons themselves are not 3D-printed and are added separately, according to Magy. The Army has also used xCell to print replacement parts for a Bradley Fighting Vehicle on-site, parts that would otherwise take months to procure, the CEO noted.
The problem runs deeper than distance. Fixed manufacturing sites are themselves targets, a vulnerability Ukraine learned the hard way. And modern conflict moves fast. Lessons from Ukraine show drone designs can change within days, not months, Magy said.
For Firestorm, the Indo-Pacific is the main event, where the company says the logistics challenges of modern conflict are hardest to solve. The startup aims for xCell to reach full operational deployment there, “ideally within the next two years,” Magy told TechCrunch.