Picogrid retweeted
From automated factories and AI-assisted medical research to autonomous flying and bringing AI to the military front lines, this is the latest news from the frontlines of NAIA member companies.
@critical_loop debuted the CLB-5100 Power System, featuring a 25-megawatt hybrid microgrid deployment in partnership with SRG Commercial. The project is designed to deliver rapid power and bring its industrial tenant online ahead of traditional grid expansion.
@GrayMatterRobot Co-Founder & CEO Ariyan Kabir was named one of Goldman Sachs’ Most Exceptional Entrepreneurs of 2026.
@FoundryRobotics announced a $100 million Series A funding round to expand its development of the American factory of the future, which autonomously assembles complex hardware, continuously adapts, and scales with demand.
@HanwhaDefenseUS announced it would acquire a controlling stake in the Hanwha Philly Shipyard that would bring it under the company’s leadership and governance structure.
@Meta is partnering with five U.S. universities to solve critical issues in medicine and science including improving outcomes for infants with tracheostomy tubes, identifying heart failure risk early, helping patients with dementia communicate, and more.
@Picogrid launched a high-performance Expeditionary Command and Control Node (ECN) designed to bring powerful computing and real-time data processing directly to front-line military units. This hardware enables tactical teams to run advanced AI and manage autonomous systems locally, even without a stable connection to a base.
@skyryse was selected by SNC integrate its SkyOS flight operating system to bring advanced flight automation and autonomous capabilities to existing aircraft fleets, initially focusing on defense platforms.
Links in comments below.
@critical_loop debuted the CLB-5100 Power System, featuring a 25-megawatt hybrid microgrid deployment in partnership with SRG Commercial. The project is designed to deliver rapid power and bring its industrial tenant online ahead of traditional grid expansion.
@GrayMatterRobot Co-Founder & CEO Ariyan Kabir was named one of Goldman Sachs’ Most Exceptional Entrepreneurs of 2026.
@FoundryRobotics announced a $100 million Series A funding round to expand its development of the American factory of the future, which autonomously assembles complex hardware, continuously adapts, and scales with demand.
@HanwhaDefenseUS announced it would acquire a controlling stake in the Hanwha Philly Shipyard that would bring it under the company’s leadership and governance structure.
@Meta is partnering with five U.S. universities to solve critical issues in medicine and science including improving outcomes for infants with tracheostomy tubes, identifying heart failure risk early, helping patients with dementia communicate, and more.
@Picogrid launched a high-performance Expeditionary Command and Control Node (ECN) designed to bring powerful computing and real-time data processing directly to front-line military units. This hardware enables tactical teams to run advanced AI and manage autonomous systems locally, even without a stable connection to a base.
@skyryse was selected by SNC integrate its SkyOS flight operating system to bring advanced flight automation and autonomous capabilities to existing aircraft fleets, initially focusing on defense platforms.
Links in comments below.
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“If the military is asking for it, you’re too late.”
Our CEO @zanemountcastle joined @DisruptionHedge to explain why, the bet behind Picogrid, and why he thinks LA could produce more $100 billion companies than San Francisco over the next 25 years.
The interview is out today. /t.co/Ctl9q9ZaTo
Our CEO @zanemountcastle joined @DisruptionHedge to explain why, the bet behind Picogrid, and why he thinks LA could produce more $100 billion companies than San Francisco over the next 25 years.
The interview is out today. /t.co/Ctl9q9ZaTo
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Picogrid retweeted
SPEAKER ANNOUNCEMENT:
@zanemountcastle , CEO of @Picogrid will be joining the Space & Defense Investor Summit.
Picogrid is building the integration layer that connects the military's sensors, drones, and command systems into a single network.
The company recently raised a $45 millemerVP, @WashingHarbour, @Initialized and others.
📍 The Beverly Hilton
🗓️ November 3 - 4, 2026
@zanemountcastle , CEO of @Picogrid will be joining the Space & Defense Investor Summit.
Picogrid is building the integration layer that connects the military's sensors, drones, and command systems into a single network.
The company recently raised a $45 millemerVP, @WashingHarbour, @Initialized and others.
📍 The Beverly Hilton
🗓️ November 3 - 4, 2026
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Picogrid retweeted
Ten years ago, building a defence tech startup got you called "stupid or evil." @Picogrid Co-Founder and CEO @zanemountcastle on defence being cool again:
"Back when I first started working with the military, I was living in San Francisco at the time, and it was very against the t you like you were stupid, or evil, or both."
"There's a lot of credit that, at least in the US, we owe to some people at the Pentagon in the mid-2010s."
"[They] were doing very unsexy acquisition reform that made it possible for new companies to sell directly to the military."
"A whole generation the best minds in tech went to Google and Facebook...we're now seeing a whole new generation of engineers move into hard tech."
"We've gone from venture-backed defence companies being essentially non-existent outside some very rare exceptions--SpaceX, Palantir--to hundreds of companies building up and down the supply chain."
"Back when I first started working with the military, I was living in San Francisco at the time, and it was very against the t you like you were stupid, or evil, or both."
"There's a lot of credit that, at least in the US, we owe to some people at the Pentagon in the mid-2010s."
"[They] were doing very unsexy acquisition reform that made it possible for new companies to sell directly to the military."
"A whole generation the best minds in tech went to Google and Facebook...we're now seeing a whole new generation of engineers move into hard tech."
"We've gone from venture-backed defence companies being essentially non-existent outside some very rare exceptions--SpaceX, Palantir--to hundreds of companies building up and down the supply chain."
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Learn more here
📳 300+ innovators stepped up for AIS Challenge!
In partnership with HQ SF/S9C, SpaceWERX is advancing solutions to strengthen @USSpaceForce operations. Congrats to the teams moving forward and thank you to everyone who submitted.
🔗 afwerxchallenge.com/ais-challenge-…
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Picogrid retweeted
I spy @Picogrid
Follow along as we rapidly develop and launch Bandit, our c-UAS interceptor drone.
Full updates on YouTube (link in comments).
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Picogrid retweeted
1/ Defense tech has advanced more in the past twenty-four months than in the previous three decades.
We’ve identified five frontiers driving innovation in defense and national security.
1️⃣Autonomy moving from concept to combat
2️⃣AI permeating DoW workflows
3️⃣New vectors for 4️⃣Edge and network resilience
5️⃣Energy and materials independence. 🧵
We’ve identified five frontiers driving innovation in defense and national security.
1️⃣Autonomy moving from concept to combat
2️⃣AI permeating DoW workflows
3️⃣New vectors for 4️⃣Edge and network resilience
5️⃣Energy and materials independence. 🧵
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Picogrid retweeted
Yesterday, @Picogrid revealed that its Legion software and edge nodes are serving as the tactical integrator between the Army's Forward Area Air Defense (FAAD) C2 and Perennial Autonomy's Merops interceptors in the Middle East.
tectonicdefense.com/picogrid-to-pr…
tectonicdefense.com/picogrid-to-pr…
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Picogrid retweeted
See you all in Detroit
SPEAKER ANNOUNCEMENT
We're honored to feature:
Zane Mountcastle (@zanemountcastle)
Co-Founder and CEO, @Picogrid
Previously announced:
>Antonio Gracias - Founder, CEO, and CIO of Valor Equity Partners
>Blake Scholl - Founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic
>Daleep Singh - Vice Chair andat PGIM
>Doug Petno - Co-CEO and CIB at JP Morgan Chase
>John Henry Harris - CEO of Harbinger
>Jim Belosic - Founder of SendCutSend
>Kelly Loeffler - SBA Administrator
>Alexis Ohanian - Founder of 776
>Ed Mehr - CEO and Co-Founder of Machina Labs
>Bryon Hargis - CEO and Co-Founder at Castelion
>Emil Michael - Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering at DoW
>Del Costy - President and Managing Director at Siemens Digital
>Brendan Carr - FCC Chairman
>Mike Pyle - Deputy Head, BlackRock Portfolio Management Group
>Justin Lopas - Co-Founder and COO, Base Power Co.
>Augustus Doricko - CEO, Rainmaker
>Mike Solana - Chief Marketing Officer, Founders Fund
>Alan Schwartz - Executive Chairman, Guggenheim Partners, LLC
>Ambassador Waltz - U.S. Representative to the United Nations
>Dan Wright - Co-Founder and CEO of Armada >Andrew Lonsberry - CEO of Path Robotics
>Tara Murphy Dougherty - CEO of Govini
>Chris Power - CEO of Hadrian
>Mark Widmar - CEO of First Solar
>Lukas Czinger - Co-Founder and CEO of Divergent
>Jacob Helberg - Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs
>Filip Aronshtein - Co-Founder and CEO of Dirac
>Scott Kupor - Director of U.S. Office of Personnel Management
>Chris Raymond - President and CEO, Boeing Global Services
>Cody James - Founder and CEO, Open X
>Paul Kwan - Managing Director, Global Resilience at General Catalyst
>Justin Bibb - Mayor of Cleveland
>Greg Bernstein - CEO, The New Industrial Corporation
>Colin Greenspon - Co-Founder and Partner, Narya
>Keri Findley - CEO and Founder, Tacora Capital
>Darin DiTommaso - VP of Engineering for Defense and Systems, GE Aerospace
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Picogrid retweeted
NEW POD with Zane Mountcastle, Co-Founder and CEO of Picogrid (@zanemountcastle @Picogrid) on the integration problem inside modern defense.
We discussed why the next era of warfare depends on infrastructure that can connect autonomous systems at scale, the economics of drone y promising defense technologies never make it into operational use.
Thanks to our founding sponsor Cushman & Wakefield (@CushWake) for sponsoring this episode.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:18 What Picogrid actually does
03:34 The integration problem across defense systems
07:02 Building infrastructure instead of one-off integrations
10:41 Deploying software inside the DoD
12:05 Picogrid’s early contracts and growth
15:07 Why acquisition incentives create friction
18:45 The engineering talent problem
22:31 The changing defense industrial base
27:05 Drone warfare and air defense economics
31:10 Scaling a defense startup
35:02 Hardware and manufacturing realities
39:04 The future of autonomous warfare
42:58 Marketing and communication in defense tech 46:32 AI hype vs reality in defense
50:14 Venture capital and defense startups
We discussed why the next era of warfare depends on infrastructure that can connect autonomous systems at scale, the economics of drone y promising defense technologies never make it into operational use.
Thanks to our founding sponsor Cushman & Wakefield (@CushWake) for sponsoring this episode.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:18 What Picogrid actually does
03:34 The integration problem across defense systems
07:02 Building infrastructure instead of one-off integrations
10:41 Deploying software inside the DoD
12:05 Picogrid’s early contracts and growth
15:07 Why acquisition incentives create friction
18:45 The engineering talent problem
22:31 The changing defense industrial base
27:05 Drone warfare and air defense economics
31:10 Scaling a defense startup
35:02 Hardware and manufacturing realities
39:04 The future of autonomous warfare
42:58 Marketing and communication in defense tech 46:32 AI hype vs reality in defense
50:14 Venture capital and defense startups
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Picogrid retweeted
The military has been trying to solve the integration problem for decades - hundreds of systems from dozens of vendors making drones, missiles, sensors and more, all needing to work together within milliseconds. Every new system added makes it exponentially more complex.
s, decades-old hardware, adversaries trying to trick your sensors. That's what @Picogrid is operating in. They built the infrastructure layer that makes it all work in hours, and what used to take six to twelve months gets done over a weekend.
They just announced their $45M Series A led by @BessemerVP. Honored to participate and we're proud to have led the Seed.
They're already deployed around the world on contract with the Pentagon, NATO, and multiple allied nations.
For more, check out the full High Bit episode with @zanemountcastle and @brettdg. ⬇️
s, decades-old hardware, adversaries trying to trick your sensors. That's what @Picogrid is operating in. They built the infrastructure layer that makes it all work in hours, and what used to take six to twelve months gets done over a weekend.
They just announced their $45M Series A led by @BessemerVP. Honored to participate and we're proud to have led the Seed.
They're already deployed around the world on contract with the Pentagon, NATO, and multiple allied nations.
For more, check out the full High Bit episode with @zanemountcastle and @brettdg. ⬇️
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Picogrid retweeted
1/ I'm excited to announce that @Picogrid closed a $45M Series A, led by @BessemerVP.
We're building the open infrastructure layer for the military's growing arsenal of sensors, drones, autonomous systems, AI agents, and C2 software.
We're building the open infrastructure layer for the military's growing arsenal of sensors, drones, autonomous systems, AI agents, and C2 software.
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Picogrid retweeted
Hardware and software integration startup @Picogrid announced in an exclusive release to Tectonic that it's raised $45M in a Series A led by @BessemerVP to expand its product family, increase deployments, and take its integration tech into new domains.
tectonicdefense.com/exclusive-pico…
tectonicdefense.com/exclusive-pico…
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Picogrid retweeted
Today on NYSE Live | @System1Research previews biggest goals ahead of this year's @Cannes_Lions, @SteveSosnick of @IBKR reveals what’s driving markets to fresh record, + @Picogrid of @zanemountcastle shares funding announcement. x.com/i/broadcasts/1…
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Picogrid is proud to be selected for @SVDG_official NatSec100, a ranking of the top 100 VC-backed defense tech companies.
Read more: natsec100.org
Read more: natsec100.org
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