Best Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech Companies in Maryland, United States
The 76 best Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech companies in Maryland, United States in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: Nuo Therapeutics.
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 Maryland
| # | Company | Last round | Disclosed funding | Employees | Founded | Founder | Tech stack | Patents & IP focus | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | a.i. solutions Provider of AI-based engineering services for space programme | — | — | 447 447 → 600 (+34%) | — | — | WordPressMySQLPHP+20 | — | 1 job opening · 1 internship · 4 partnerships |
| 2 | ADTI Electronic components for the military | — | — | 43 | 1990 | Matthew Shankle CEO | — | — | — |
| 3 | Aerial Array Develops image processing software for analyzing drone-collected data | — | — | — | 2015 | Belinda Kilby Co-Founder | — | — | — |
| 4 | applied defense solutions Applied Defense Solutions, an aerospace engineering, software development and space situational awareness… | — | — | 100 | 2005 | — | — | — | — |
| 5 | ArgusThermal Imaging Thermal imaging solutions for firefighting applications | — | — | 1,024 | 1978 | Rob Rennie CEO | — | — | — |
| 6 | ATAA Provider of design and engineering solutions for aerospace solutions | — | — | 40 | 2006 | Anthony Tenorio CEO | — | — | — |
| 7 | AviationManuals Safety management system software for the aviation industry | — | — | 33 | 1996 | — | — | — | 1 partnership · 1 award |
| 8 | AXIS GeoSpatial Geospatial data and insights for infrastructure and resource management solutions | — | — | 28 | 2001 | — | — | — | — |
Top 12 Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech companies in Maryland
#1
Public · Gaithersburg, Maryland · founded 2001 · 10 employees$64.6Mraised▾
Developer of regenerative products for wound care. The company focuses on regenerative therapies to primarily address the areas of wound care, inflammation, and angiogenesis. Its proprietary technology Aurix is a biodynamic hematogel that is an auto platelet and plasma therapy system. It has been approved by the FDA for use in the management of wounds and ulcers of all types and severities.
- Jul 2025Post IPO$791.4K
- Sep 2024Post IPO$849.1K
- May 2024Post IPO$650.9K
- Dec 2023Post IPO$962.5K
#2
Series A · Rockville, Maryland · founded 2022 · 38 employees$57Mraised▾
Developer of maneuverable spacecraft for defense and commercial on-orbit missions. The company engineers adaptable platforms designed for persistent orbital presence and tactical superiority. It focuses on satellite life extension, refueling, and diverse payload deployment. The spacecraft are configurable for satellite servicing, surveillance, exploration, and national security missions.
- Jun 2025Series A$40M
- Dec 2022Series A$17M
#3
Seed · Baltimore, Maryland · founded 2024$7.5Mraised▾
Operator of reusable spacecraft for orbital payload delivery and retrieval. The company develops fully reusable spacecraft like Hermes for rapid, cost-effective payload delivery and retrieval, focusing on return technology to enable in-space manufacturing and research. It targets applications such as purer semiconductors, advanced fiber-optics, and biotech like protein layers for artificial retinas.
- Jan 2026Seed$7.5M
#4
Seed · Lusby, Maryland · founded 2016 · 6 employees$1.8Mraised▾
HopFlyt Venturi is a Manufacturer of electric vertical takeoff & landing aircraft. Claims to use patent-pending designs that combine variable incidence wings & canards with channels, distributed electrical propulsion (DEP), and contra-rotating propellers in an eVTOL design. Also claims that its aircraft can travel at speeds up to 200 mph.
- Apr 2025Seed$497.3K
- Nov 2022Seed$1.5M
- Oct 2020Seed$292.7K
- Jun 2020Seed—
#5
Public · Columbia, Maryland · founded 2020 · 5 employees$25Mraised▾
Provider of AI-powered decision support software for enterprises. It provides business intelligence solutions that includes artificial intelligence, data science, analytics, data management, cloud solutions, digital engineering, and systems integration.The platform allows users to analyze the datasets to support the decision making process. It caters to government, logistics, energy, finance, media, and space industries.
- Jan 2023Post IPO$25M
#6
Acquired · Columbia, Maryland · founded 1989 · 562 employees$28.6Mraised▾
Provider of electronic warfare systems for the military. The company offers solutions for space superiority, directed energy, missile defense and C4ISR, and cyber and intelligence mission systems.
- Feb 2021Grant (prize money)$250K
- Sep 2020Grant (prize money)$150K
- Aug 2020Grant (prize money)—
- Aug 2020Grant (prize money)$789.9K
#7
Acquired · Gaithersburg, Maryland · founded 2009 · 52 employees$62Mraised▾
Developer of robotic platforms and command and control software solutions. The company delivers versatile robots enhancing mobility, situational awareness, and mission adaptability across terrains. It offers a unified software connecting robots, drones, and sensors into one operational layer. The software provides visibility, real-time control, and insights for monitoring, analyzing, and acting from a single interface.
- Sep 2016Series B$50M
- Series A$12M
#8
Seed · Lusby, Maryland · founded 2015 · 10 employees$2.9Mraised▾
Maintenance management solutions for airline operators. It provides real-time alerts from manufacturing partners on component issues or failures. It offers a dashboard that tracks critical metrics including flight hours, time to maintenance, sortie times, and pilot information. It offers subscription packages.
- Apr 2023Seed—
- Oct 2022Seed$550K
- Jul 2022Seed$350K
- Nov 2019Seed$2M
#9
Series A · Gaithersburg, Maryland · founded 2017 · 45 employees$15Mraised▾
Provider of AR and AI-based real-time geotagging solutions. The AI-based solution uses geographical positioning imagery, combined with machine learning algorithms and computer vision, to deliver visually augmented video with critical information and tagging. It provides tagging on live video feeds for application in defense, infrastructure, public safety during emergency situations
- Feb 2021Series A$9.5M
- Feb 2018Seed$5.5M
#10
Funding Raised · Columbia, Maryland · founded 2008$815.8Kraised▾
Provides instruments for monitoring atmosphere of earth. It offers ground based spectrometer and space based platform for air quality monitoring, measurement and satellite validation.
- Dec 2023Grant (prize money)—
- Aug 2022Grant (prize money)$382.3K
- Jun 2020Grant (prize money)—
- May 2020Grant (prize money)—
#11
Seed · Baltimore, Maryland · founded 2020 · 6 employees$100Kraised▾
Online platform connecting boaters with private dock owners for renting docks. Boaters can search for available docks by location and reserve them online. Dock owners can create customized listings for their boat slips.
- Dec 2023Seed$100K
- May 2021Seed$85K
#12
Seed · Annapolis, Maryland · founded 2013 · 16 employees$1.1Mraised▾
Innovative optical solutions for avionics, consumer electronics, and medical devices. The company specializes in designing and developing advanced optical systems to address unique challenges across diverse vertical markets. With expertise in optical, mechanical, and electronics engineering, they create cost-effective solutions that surpass traditional approaches. Their product line includes head-up displays for general aviation, enhancing pilot safety by providing critical flight information. They also offer portable projectors for travelers, teachers, and families, enabling wireless connectivity to devices for presentations, movies, and spreadsheets. The company focuses on systems engineering, from optical design to robust optical engines, delivering high-grade technology. They aim to provide reliable technology for ease of use in various environments.
- Nov 2017Seed$1.1M
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 the United States
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 1,518 United States-affiliated papers.
- Marshall Space Flight Center339
- Langley Research Center111
- Jacobs77
- Purdue University West Lafayette61
- Ames Research Center61
- Detonation1→8
- Trajectory2→6
- Rocket (weapon)16→20
- Combustor1→4
- Propellant13→14
- Detonation10→40
- Propulsion26→34
- Liquid-propellant rocket20→28
- Combustor10→15
- Combustion11→16
- Detonation2→11
- Rocket (weapon)20→21
- Rocket engine12→13
Where launch vehicles is researched across United States
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.
Who's filing launch vehicles patents in the United States
United States launch vehicles patent filing is accelerating — 333 filings from 249 assignees (2016–2025), led by Boeing, BLUE Origin, United Technologies; annual filings 29→46.
- Boeing47
- BLUE Origin44
- United Technologies33
- Venus Aerospace25
- 8 Rivers Capital19
- Aerojet Rocketdyne15
- Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne13
- Firehawk Aerospace13
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.