Shifters raises $10.2M to put robots first into tunnels and rubble
The US-Israeli startup raised a $10.2 million seed led by Ace Capital Partners to scale ground robots that enter tunnels and rubble before troops.
The US-Israeli startup raised a $10.2 million seed led by Ace Capital Partners to scale ground robots that enter tunnels and rubble before troops.
Shifters, a US-Israeli startup building AI-native ground robots, raised $10.2 million in seed funding led by Ace Capital Partners, the company said June 3, bringing total funding to $15 million. Aurelius Capital Management, Corner Ventures and Arkin Capital joined the round.
The company builds sensor-carrying robots, including quadruped platforms, and the autonomy software that lets one operator direct a coordinated team across rubble, tunnels and contaminated ground, Defense Daily reported. Shifters has run demonstrations of robotic entry and navigation with defense and security stakeholders, and designs to a Modular Open Systems Approach so customers can swap mission payloads.
Drones transformed reconnaissance from the air, and Shifters is bringing the same shift to the ground, where many dangerous missions still require people to move in first, the company said. The first asset into a dangerous space should be a robot rather than a person, chief executive Ofer Ballin said, a pitch the company brands "Robots Go First," The Defense Post reported.
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Subscribe Free →Shifters is hunting a production site in the Washington area to move from prototypes toward building "hundreds of thousands" of robots for the defense market, the Washington Business Journal reported. The round closed against a US Department of War AI strategy, issued January 12, that pushes AI adoption, open modular systems and autonomy across the force.
The defense uses Shifters lists run from reconnaissance and perimeter monitoring to high-risk mission prep, with commercial work in infrastructure inspection and search and rescue. The company has not yet named a production site or a defense customer.
FAQ
What did Shifters raise?
Shifters raised $10.2 million in seed funding led by Ace Capital Partners, announced June 3, bringing its total funding to $15 million, per the company's release and The Defense Post. Aurelius Capital Management, Corner Ventures and Arkin Capital also took part.
What does the company build?
Shifters builds AI-native, supervised-autonomy ground robots, including sensor-carrying platforms and the software that lets one operator direct a coordinated robotic team across difficult terrain, according to Defense Daily and the company.
What is the "Robots Go First" mission?
It is Shifters' framing that a robot, not a soldier, should be the first asset into a dangerous space such as a tunnel or rubble, in CEO Ofer Ballin's words, to extend reach and reduce human exposure before a mission escalates.
Where is Shifters based?
The company is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with operations in the United States, the Middle East and Europe, per its release. It is hunting a Greater Washington production site, the Washington Business Journal reported.
How does this connect to US defense policy?
The round closed against a US Department of War AI strategy issued January 12, 2026 that emphasizes AI adoption, modular open systems, and autonomy, per the company, demand the startup says its supervised ground autonomy is built to meet.
Marcus Schuler
Marcus Schuler edits BattlePolicy, a daily defense-technology brief connecting the companies and capabilities behind modern war to the contest among Europe, the US, Russia, and China.