Smack Technologies, a defense‑tech startup based in Austin, Texas, is building artificial‑intelligence tools that help soldiers make faster decisions on the battlefield. Its flagship product, Omega, uses reinforcement‑learning and real‑time computer vision to generate fire‑planning options in minutes and adjust plans in seconds. The company raised $61 million in a Series B round to accelerate the production of Omega and to develop new hardware for troops.
The funding comes after the US Department of Defense declared the AI company Anthropic a “supply‑chain risk” in March. That announcement forced the Marine Corps and Navy to look for alternative AI vendors, turning Smack from a niche player into a sought‑after partner. According to CEO Andy Markoff, the military asked the company to speed up delivery of its solutions.
Markoff said the Pentagon is concerned that future wars will be fought in environments where communications are degraded and commanders cannot rely on constant data links. In such scenarios, soldiers will need to make tactical decisions on the ground before information reaches a central command center. Omega is designed to support this need by providing rapid, on‑the‑fly decision support.
In July, Smack secured two prototyping contracts, one with the Joint Fires Network and another with the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab. While the contract values were not disclosed, the company said both were worth more than seven figures. These deals give the startup a chance to test its technology in real military settings.
The Series B investors include Costanoa Ventures, First In, Point72 Ventures, and Geodesic Capital, among others. The round did not disclose a valuation, but the capital will be used to scale Omega and to build Alpha, a forearm AI display. Alpha is intended to replace the improvised whiteboards that soldiers have traditionally strapped to their arms in the field.
Smack plans to produce 10 to 20 prototype Alpha units in the next six months. The company has grown from 19 employees in April to 51 today and aims to reach about 85 staff by the end of the year. The new funding will help the company meet the growing demand from the armed forces.
Smack’s technology is positioned to address a “kill chain” that the company describes as vulnerable and slow in fast‑moving combat. By delivering quick, adaptive guidance, Omega and Alpha could give U.S. troops a decisive edge in decentralized, communications‑degraded battlefields. The startup’s rapid growth and recent contracts signal a strong shift toward AI‑enabled defense solutions.