Vector (Salt Lake City, UT) a startup producing advanced military-spec drone technology, has raised a $61 million Series A to scale production of its Hammer drone, a deep sensing and strike FPV quadcopter, aiming to redefine modern battlefield dominance.
Salt Lake City, Utah – September 3, 2025
Vector, a defense tech startup barely 14 months old, announced it has secured a $61 million Series A to scale its modern warfare-as-a-service model. The company, built by former special operators and drone engineers says it is producing battlefield-ready systems at industrial scale.
The raise was led by Pelion Venture Partners (Draper, UT), with backing from Harpoon Ventures (San Diego, CA), Point72 Ventures (New York, NY), Lightspeed Venture Partners (Menlo Park, CA), Run Ventures, Dauntless Ventures, GSB Backers, Alumni Ventures (Manchester, NH), Kickstart Fund (Salt Lake City, UT), Shield Capital (San Francisco, CA), R7, Cambria Group (Palo Alto, CA), and Stony Lonesome Group (West Point, NY).
CEO and co-founder Andy Yakulis, a Stanford GSB grad and former Army Special Operations Commander, called the financing “a decisive step in delivering attritable unmanned systems that perform on the modern battlefield.”
The Hammer: Deep Sensing, Deep Strike
Vector’s signature product, the Vector Hammer is a multi-use drone built with warfighters in mind—engineered to provide both deep sensing and deep strike capability. Outfitted with high-grade cameras, the Hammer can detect threats or targets up to 20 kilometers away, giving units actionable intelligence before shots are fired.
Once threats are identified, operators can deploy additional Hammers to execute with either droppable payloads or one-way kinetic strikes. A gimbaled camera system gives the drone unique sensing capabilities that the company says outclasses other FPVs in its category.
Yakulis a calls the Hammer “the first-to-market FPV with fiber optic integration,” giving it superior resistance against jamming and signal interference. He frames it as a turning point in restoring American drone dominance, adding:
“The Hammer was engineered by warfighters for warfighters — and Vector is production-ready to reshape the battlefield.”
The Hammer platform is designed for tens of thousands of units. Built at Vector’s state-of-the-art Utah manufacturing facility, the Hammer is being manufactured to military-grade reliability standards.
Vector employs about 150 people, positioning itself to crank out tens of thousands of units as defense budgets tilt toward attritable, swarming systems.
The company received the Pentagon’s Top Gun Trophy from the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, cementing its place as a serious player in defense tech.
Legal Salvo Incoming
Vector’s surge isn’t distraction-free — rival drone firm Red Cat Holdings (and its Teal Drones unit) filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Utah on August 4, 2025, accusing Vector and co-founder/CTO George Matus of stealing trade secrets and demanding injunctive relief. Vector CEO Andy Yakulis called the claims “without merit” and said the company will “vigorously defend itself.”
To learn more, visit tfvector.com or watch this YouTube video of the Hammer drone in action.