Best Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech Companies in Australia
The 236 best Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech companies in Australia in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: Gilmour Space.
When you're mapping the best Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech companies in Australia, the first number worth anchoring to is $597M in total disclosed funding across 236 tracked companies. No unicorns, but the spread tells a real story. Gilmour Space leads at $99M, Fleet Space follows at $67M, and Myriota sits at $30M. That's three companies accounting for roughly a third of all disclosed capital in the sector. Backers like Main Sequence, Blackbird Ventures, and In-Q-Tel aren't writing small checks into speculative ideas. They're underwriting launch infrastructure, satellite IoT, and autonomous maritime systems with genuine commercial ambitions.
The global market these companies are competing into sits at roughly $1076.6B, forecast to grow at a 5.9% CAGR through 2027, driven by geopolitical alliances and a sustained lift in defense investment across allied nations. So what does that mean for Australia specifically? Median app install growth of around 15% year-over-year across 68 maritime, defense, space, and aviation apps signals real demand pulling through, not just capital pushing in. I'd watch the smaller end of this directory too. Hullbot at $16M and Kite Magnetics at $2M are operating in niches where the global appetite is growing faster than the funding rounds currently reflect.
- prnewswire.com
Our analysis of 50 Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech companies
$31.9b in tracked funding; 90% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2021.
Ranked: Best Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech companies in Australia
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Employees | Founder | Tech stack | Web popularity | Market signals (1y) | Patents & IP focus | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gilmour Space Developer of launch vehicles for small payloads | $99M | 4 mo ago | 168 | Adam Gilmour Co-Founder & CEO | Cart FunctionalityWixSentry+18 | Top 5M | — | — | 1 job opening |
| 2 | Skykraft Developer of space-based air traffic management and safety enhancement systems | $79M | 32 mo ago | 40 | Michael Frater CEO | WixSentryApple iCloud Mail+12 | Top 50M | — | — | 1 job opening · 1 partnership |
| 3 | Fleet Space Developer of space-enabled platform delivering integrated data for mineral exploration | $67M | 18 mo ago | 100 | Flavia Nardini Co-Founder & CEO | WebflowGSAPLenis+23 | Top 5M | 6 signals ▼62% Announcements · M&A | 68 patents LEO satellite communications hardware, antennas, modems, and integrated IoT sensor nodes | — |
| 4 | Propeller Aerobotics Develops a cloud-based platform for management of drone-gathered data | $58M | 38 mo ago | — | Rory Miguel Co-Founder & CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+36 | Top 1M | — | 14 patents UAV navigation and state estimation using visual geo-referencing and sensor fusion | 4 launchs |
| 5 | Elenium Provider of a web-based passenger management solution for the airline industry | $52M | 54 mo ago | 73 | Heinz Corona Co-Founder | WordPressMySQLPHP+13 | Top 50M | — | — | — |
| 6 | Myriota Provider of satellite network for Internet of Things connectivity and solutions 67Funding top 30%Growth top 30%News top 30%Talent top 30% All 10 signals ▾Fundingtop 30% Growthtop 30% Newstop 30% Talenttop 30% Techtop 35% Producttop 35% Moattop 39% Marketbottom 47% Globalbottom 39% Partnersbottom 34% Funding: Raised $30.3M across 6 rounds · 6 rounds over 12 yrs (0.5/yr) Growth: Fresh capital in last 24 mo rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 67/100 | $30M | 17 mo ago | 50 | David Haley Co-Founder & CTO | WordPress Block EditorWordPressMySQL+30 | Top 5M | 5 signals ▲67% Leadership · Contracts | — | 3 launchs · 1 partnership |
| 7 | Swoop Aero Provider of airborne ambulatory and logistics services | $26M | 42 mo ago | 76 | — | — | — | — | — | 1 partnership |
| 8 | SAS Sky and Space Co is a satellite company specializing in communication nanosatellites and software expertise… | $23M | 80 mo ago | 9 | Meir Moalem Co-Founder & CEO | — | — | 16 signals ▼75% New product · Announcements · M&A | — | — |
| 9 | Emesent Provider of aerial-based earth imaging and mapping solutions | $23M | 51 mo ago | 139 | — | WordPress Block EditorWordPressApple iCloud Mail+33 | Top 5M | — | — | 1 award |
| 10 | Infravision Provider of a drone stringing system | $23M | 32 mo ago | 74 | Cameron Van Der Berg Co-Founder | WordPressMySQLPHP+23 | Top 10M | 5 signals Funding · Capital raise · Leadership | — | 1 job opening · 3 expansions |
| 11 | Abyss Solutions Provider of autonomous inspection solutions for critical infrastructure and assets | $19M | 42 mo ago | 176 | — | WordPressMySQLPHP+30 | Top 10M | — | — | — |
| 12 | Hullbot Develops autonomous robots for private yacht cleaning 53Growth top 28%Funding top 31%Innovation top 39%Product top 46% All 9 signals ▾Growthtop 28% Fundingtop 31% Innovationtop 39% Producttop 46% Techtop 47% Talentbottom 49% Moatbottom 45% Globalbottom 36% Marketbottom 32% Growth: Web rank 50,000,000 → 10,000,000 YoY · Fresh capital in last 24 mo Funding: Raised $16.0M across 1 rounds · 1 rounds over 1 yrs (1.0/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 53/100 | $16M | 7 mo ago | 22 | Karl W Co-Founder | CTO | Node.jsThree.jsTailwind CSS+13 | Top 10M | — | — | — |
| 13 | Nearmap Provides high resolution aerial imagery | $15M | 114 mo ago | 483 | Cristy Thomas Senior Executive Assistant and Business Partner to CEO | Node.jsMUIVarnish+29 | Top 500k | — | 9 patents AI-driven property risk assessment and roof age estimation for insurance underwriting | — |
| 14 | Amaero Online on demand metal manufacturing and 3d printing solutions | $9M | 66 mo ago | 16 | — | SentryTypeScriptGraphQL+12 | Top 50M | 19 signals ▲90% Contracts · Announcements · Capital raise | — | — |
| 15 | HEO Provider of non-Earth imaging services and space object monitoring solutions | $8M | 33 mo ago | — | Hiranya Jayakody Co-founder and CTO | Webflow EcommerceWebflowUptimeRobot+17 | Top 10M | — | — | — |
| 16 | Trendspek Provider of 3D structural lifecycle management software for asset management solutions using digital twins | $7M | 42 mo ago | 23 | Derek Feebrey CEO | — | — | — | — | 1 job opening |
| 17 | Carbonix Provider of electric fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles | $6M | 58 mo ago | 25 | Dario Valenza Founder | WordPressMySQLPHP+16 | Top 10M | — | — | — |
| 18 | Spookfish Advanced Camera system for capturing imagery faster and from higher positions | $6M | 109 mo ago | — | Mike von Bertouch Founder | — | — | — | — | — |
| 19 | Hypersonix Hypersonic aircraft manufacturer | $6M | 49 mo ago | 28 | David Waterhouse Deputy Chairman and Co-Founder | WebflowApple iCloud MailMicrosoft 365+13 | Top 10M | — | — | 2 partnerships · 1 award |
| 20 | Equatorial Launch Australia Operator of spaceport providing infrastructure and launch services for rockets | $5M | 56 mo ago | 20 | Michael Jones Group Chief Executive Officer | Framer SitesReactCloudflare+12 | Top 50M | — | — | — |
| 21 | Aerologix Provider of a cloud-based marketplace for drone piloting services | $4M | 48 mo ago | 31 | Tom Caska Co-Founder & CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+34 | Top 10M | — | — | — |
| 22 | Precision Autonomy Drone inspection solutions for insurers | $4M | 74 mo ago | 12 | Mark Halverson Co-Founder & CEO | TypeScriptZone.jsAngular+12 | Top 50M | — | — | — |
| 23 | Skyborne Technologies Developing tri-rotor hybrid drones for providing aerial imagery services | $2M | 85 mo ago | 18 | Adrian Dudok Co-Founder & Director | Cart FunctionalitySquarespace CommerceSquarespace+18 | Top 10M | — | — | — |
| 24 | Kite Magnetics Manufacturer of electric propulsion for aircraft | $2M | 12 mo ago | 11 | — | — | — | — | 3 patents Nanocrystalline soft magnetic iron alloys and ultra‑rapid annealing processes. | 1 partnership |
| 25 | Metakosmos Developer of planetary exploration suits and astronaut training data-driven solutions | $1M | 21 mo ago | — | Renuka Rambhatla Co-Founder/ Chief Compliance Officer | — | — | — | — | — |
| 26 | Esper Satellite Imagery Provider of hyperspectral imagery for Earth observation across multiple industries | $1M | 15 mo ago | 8 | Przemyslaw Lorenczak Co-Founder & CTO | Framer SitesReactPriority Hints+5 | Top 10M | — | — | 1 launch · 1 partnership |
| 27 | AMLab Developer of software solutions for container terminal crane automation systems | $971K | 66 mo ago | — | Shanil Herat Managing Director | — | — | — | 2 patents 3D object reconstruction and spatial mapping technologies | — |
| 28 | Incodocs Online platform for creation of shipping documents | $915K | 86 mo ago | 3 | — | SentryReactStripe+28 | Top 5M | — | — | — |
| 29 | Drone Platform offering drone solutions 11Talent bottom 49%Tech bottom 43%Funding bottom 40%Market bottom 25% All 5 signals ▾Talentbottom 49% Techbottom 43% Fundingbottom 40% Marketbottom 25% Globalbottom 25% Talent: 1 named leader on record · 1 C-suite/founder profile curated Tech: 20 technologies across 3/8 capability areas · Cloud: Cloudflare rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 11/100 | $720K | 7 mo ago | — | Edward Barraclough Founder/CEO | WordPress Block EditorWordPressMySQL+17 | Top 50M | — | — | 1 award |
| 30 | Wildlife Drones Livestock radio-tracking drone system | $670K | 90 mo ago | 9 | — | WordPress Block EditorWordPressMySQL+17 | Top 10M | — | — | — |
| 31 | Skyy Network Provider of air traffic management solution for drones | $500K | 78 mo ago | 8 | Sorin Moisa Co-Founder & Chairman | — | — | — | — | — |
| 32 | GeoNadir Provider of a cloud-based crowd-sourced drone data analytic platform | $342K | 52 mo ago | 4 | Paul Mead Co-Founder and Operations Lead | WordPressMySQLPHP+39 | Top 10M | — | — | — |
| 33 | Element Robotics Developer of robotic platforms and software for space exploration missions | $160K | 16 mo ago | — | Saksham Khurana Co-Founder | — | — | — | — | — |
| 34 | Space Industries Developer of lunar resource extraction vehicle | $110K | 69 mo ago | — | Joshua Letcher Founder & CEO | — | — | — | — | — |
Top 12 Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech companies in Australia
#1
Series E · Gold Coast, Queensland · founded 2012 · 168 employees$99.4Mraised▾
Developer of launch vehicles for small payloads. It provides users with launching systems for small payloads, such as nano- and cube-satellites and satellite platforms. It also provides users with orbital launch vehicles, in-space propulsion, and sounding rockets.
- Jan 2026Series E$145.4M
- Feb 2024Series D$35.9M
- Jun 2021Series C$46M
- Sep 2018Series B$13.7M
#2
Series A · Sydney, New South Wales · founded 2014 · 22 employees$16Mraised▾
Hullbot is an autonomous in-water cleaning robot for private yachts. It is a fully autonomous robotic hull cleaning system which attaches itself to the yacht surface and keeps the yacht surface from fouling. The company claims it operates at half the average cost of lifting, cleaning and re-painting a sailing yacht. As of Aug 2017, the company is seeking investment.
- Nov 2025Series A$16M
#3
Series D · Adelaide, South Australia · founded 2018 · 100 employees$66.9Mraised▾
Developer of space-enabled platform delivering integrated data for mineral exploration. The platform offers real-time insights and uncertainty modelling. It provides solutions for complex environments, integrating with existing systems. The company delivers exploration intelligence using geoscience and artificial intelligence.
- Dec 2024Series D$100M
- May 2023Series C$33.1M
- Nov 2021Series B$26.4M
- Sep 2019Series A$7.3M
#4
Series C · Adelaide, South Australia · founded 2014 · 50 employees$30.3Mraised▾
Provider of satellite network for Internet of Things connectivity and solutions. The company delivers services for applications requiring data transmission and low-power connectivity for remote deployments. It offers a developer platform compatible with sensor types for deployment testing. The network provides connectivity for industries including agriculture, water, mining, and government.
- Dec 2024Series C$50M
- Jun 2024Grant (prize money)$1.5M
- Apr 2020Series B$16.8M
- Mar 2018Series A$11.5M
#5
Seed · Melbourne, Victoria · founded 2023$720Kraised▾
Platform offering drone solutions. It offers an autonomous drone solution for real-time property monitoring. It is designed for livestock management and monitoring.
- Nov 2025Seed$720K
#6
Seed · Notting Hill, Victoria · founded 2021 · 11 employees$1.9Mraised▾
Manufacturer of electric propulsion for aircraft. It designs and develops electric aircraft engines for multiple models. Its propulsion systems have low noise levels and emissions.
- May 2025Seed$2.2M
- Oct 2022Seed$1.9M
#7
Series B · Canberra, Australian Capital Territory · founded 2017 · 40 employees$79.4Mraised▾
Developer of space-based air traffic management and safety enhancement systems. The company focuses on continuous communications and surveillance to improve global air traffic safety. It aims to provide resilience through multiple levels of redundancy and cyber protection. The company's work supports optimized airspace use in congested areas.
- Oct 2023Series B$75.9M
- Dec 2021Series A$3.5M
- Jun 2020Grant (prize money)—
#8
Series B · Surry Hills, New South Wales · founded 2014$57.5Mraised▾
Develops a cloud-based platform for management of drone-gathered data. It enables post-processing of data, as well as sharing it. It also provides various collaboration features. The target market includes both commercial drone operators and enterprises that use drone-based data and services.
- Apr 2023Series B$15.3M
- Jul 2020Series B$18M
- Jun 2018Series A$10M
- Sep 2016Series A$3.1M
#9
Seed · Mulgrave, Victoria · founded 2019 · 8 employees$1Mraised▾
Provider of hyperspectral imagery for Earth observation across multiple industries. The company delivers data with infrared coverage, offering insights for mineral exploration, land rehabilitation, and agriculture. Its sensors capture images with hundreds of colors of unseen light. This data is used to decode the surface of the planet, breaking it down to its chemical components.
- Mar 2025Seed$3.1M
- Oct 2024Seed$1M
- 2023Seed$20K
#10
Series A · Camperdown, New South Wales · founded 2017 · 74 employees$22.9Mraised▾
Developer of drone stringing technology designed for the energy, infrastructure, and mining industries. The company's technology includes a power line stringing system that is powered by a heavy-lift unmanned aircraft to reduce environmental impacts also provides technologies to preserve vegetation, local fauna, and agricultural land, enabling businesses to have assistance with electric utilities to accelerate power grid modernization with drone-enabled power line upgrades.
#11
Seed · Botany, New South Wales · founded 2020$1.3Mraised▾
Developer of planetary exploration suits and astronaut training data-driven solutions. The company focuses on building commercial spacesuits as a platform to transform human spaceflight. It aims to radically transform the human spaceflight lifecycle and spacesuit economics. The company also enhances the commercial spaceflight experience with data-driven training.
- Aug 2024Seed$1.3M
- Jul 2024Grant (prize money)—
- Mar 2024Grant (prize money)$250K
#12
Series B · Melbourne, Victoria · founded 2017 · 76 employees$26Mraised▾
Provider of airborne ambulatory and logistics services. The service is meant for patients living in places where ground commuting takes a long time or is not proper. It offers multi-vertical delivery services. The company offers services to places in terrain, waterways, mountain ranges, poor infrastructure places, and places with traffic congestion.
- Dec 2022Series B$10M
- Dec 2022Grant (prize money)$1.5M
- Jun 2022Series B$16M
- Apr 2021Series A—
Funding & investor landscape
Notable founders
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time rising
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
How research on Launch Vehicles is moving in Australia
A read on the academic research around Launch Vehicles — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 54 Australia-affiliated papers.
- Australia Telescope National Facility10
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation10
- Macquarie University10
- University of Queensland6
- University of Adelaide6
- Pulsar10
- Geodetic datum10
- Neutron star10
- Very-long-baseline interferometry10
- Orbit (dynamics)10
- Nozzle1→5
- Combustion3
- Liquid-propellant rocket3
- Propellant2
- Combustion chamber2
- Instability1
Where launch vehicles is researched across Australia
Location clusters by institution affiliation — each city's volume, stance tone, and a quick read on its hot topic, what's advancing, the opening opportunity, and the main concern.
Common questions
Riya reads income statements for fun. She covers the real money in a sector — revenue, growth, who actually earns — and never met a vague claim she didn't want a number for.