Achieving a $1B valuation highlights the essential role of Defense Unicorns in establishing secure software delivery infrastructure for pivotal military applications.
SAN ANTONIO – Jan. 13, 2026 – Today, Defense Unicorns, a preeminent provider of airgap software solutions for national security systems, announced the successful conclusion of a $136 million Series B financing round spearheaded by Bain Capital.
This influx of capital catapults the company to unicorn status, boasting a valuation that surpasses $1 billion, a feat driven by its swift and profitable expansion.
The organization has experienced an impressive 300% year-on-year adoption surge in military applications.
In a landscape where the Department of War prioritizes modernization and agility, Defense Unicorns’ platform directly addresses a pressing infrastructure challenge.
It facilitates secure and rapid software updates across disconnected platforms, including submarines, ships, and aircraft, as well as forward operating bases.
Often, warfighters operate in environments with limited or no connectivity; thus, the ability to deploy software updates securely and instantaneously is now paramount to mission success.
The Unicorn Delivery Service (UDS) reconciles high-security mandates while providing partners and allies with modern software solutions that are vital for next-generation national security capabilities.
“Defense Unicorns endows our nation with a wartime software advantage,” stated Dr. Rob Slaughter, CEO of Defense Unicorns. “While the U.S. holds substantial commercial software advantages, the systems utilized in combat are generally outdated.
At Defense Unicorns, we transform software into a strategic deterrent, facilitating its deployment and operation across diverse mission environments,” Dr. Slaughter elaborated.
The financing round was predominantly led by Bain Capital’s Tech Opportunities Fund, which serves as the growth technology platform within Bain Capital.
Other contributors included Ansa Capital, Sapphire Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, AVP, Uncorrelated Ventures, and former CIA Director David H. Petraeus.
“We are elated to support Defense Unicorns as it endeavors to ensure that U.S. service members gain access to the most advanced, secure, and swiftly deployable software available,” remarked Dewey Awad, a Partner at Bain Capital Tech Opportunities.
“Defense Unicorns is instrumental in aiding the military in modernizing mission systems, enhancing capabilities that significantly bolster readiness, resilience, and operational prowess in the field,” Awad added.
“We firmly believe that Defense Unicorns is constructing foundational infrastructure for contemporary defense,” expressed Zach Berger, a Managing Director at Bain Capital Tech Opportunities.
“The company’s unparalleled technical skill set, paired with insightful comprehension of military operations, is essential for delivering tangible, meaningful impact for service members engaged in high-stakes scenarios.”
The demand for secure software delivery continues to escalate. Marco DeMeireles, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Ansa Capital, noted, “We have been proud partners with Defense Unicorns since the Series A round, and our ongoing investment underscores our confidence as we witness the team’s adept handling of a profoundly complex and mission-critical issue.
What Rob and the team have cultivated is foundational infrastructure for modern defense, and this forthcoming chapter accentuates the immense potential impact ahead.”
The newly acquired funding will empower Defense Unicorns to further enhance and integrate open-source as well as commercial dual-use technology throughout the U.S. military and its allied forces.
To tackle the most pressing modernization necessities within defense, the company seeks to advance product development across the following strategic innovations:
- UDS: A secure, portable, airgap-native runtime platform, tailored to resolve DOW-specific software delivery challenges.
UDS significantly simplifies and accelerates the deployment and updating of software on military systems, offering essential tools for packaging, deploying, monitoring, and maintaining mission-critical applications. - UDS Registry: The inaugural software registry of its kind, designed to deliver the speed, reliability, and mission-critical performance required by military systems functioning in the harshest environments.
The UDS Registry provides the U.S. and its allies with an American-maintained solution that secures the software supply chain while fostering trust and reliability throughout the software development lifecycle. - UDS Army: A novel approach aimed at expediting the continuous delivery of secure, mission-ready software to soldiers.
UDS Army offers commercial software vendors a streamlined and expedited pathway to integrate their solutions into Army missions, leveraging secure DevSecOps pipelines alongside pre-authorized cloud environments.
“Prior to UDS, an open, secure, and airgap-native modern software delivery capability did not exist for warfighters. More than merely a software solution, UDS represents a comprehensive ecosystem of tools and technologies meticulously designed to securely expedite capabilities to the field.
I express my gratitude for the remarkable teams at Defense Unicorns who continuously evolve UDS, imparting further technical advantages to our nation’s heroes,” concluded Co-Founder and CTO Jeff McCoy.
Founded in 2021 by Rob Slaughter, Jeff McCoy, and Andrew Greene, Defense Unicorns is a veteran-owned defense technology enterprise dedicated to transforming software into a strategic deterrent for the U.S. Department of War.
The company develops open-source, airgap-native technologies that facilitate the secure development, delivery, and sustainment of mission software across cloud, on-premises, and tactical edge environments.
Defense Unicorns’ technology is relied upon by operators of some of the world’s most vital systems, encompassing the U.S. Navy, Army, Air Force, and Space Force.
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