Shield AI to acquire Aechelon, raise $2B at $12.7B valuation

Shield AI announced it is raising $1.5B in Series G funding at a $12.7B post-money valuation and $500M in fixed-return preferred equity financing. The Series G is led by Advent International and co-led by the Strategic Investment Group of JPMorganChase’s (JPM) Security and Resiliency Initiative, with participation from existing investors Snowpoint Ventures, Innovation X Advisors, Riot Ventures, Disruptive, Apandion, and others. Funds managed by Blackstone are investing $500M of preferred equity financing, as well as committing an additional $250M delayed draw facility to support future growth. Advent’s Chairman David Mussafer will join Shield AI’s Board of Directors and JPMorganChase’s Todd Combs will join as a Board Observer. A portion of the proceeds will help fund the company’s planned acquisition of Aechelon Technology, a Sagewind Capital portfolio company. Aechelon is a defense software company known for its high-fidelity simulation, physics-based sensors, and synthetic reality applications. Aechelon’s technology is used by the U.S. military and allies to train pilots and test advanced aircraft and autonomous systems before live flight, and supports a range of critical national security platforms, including the Pentagon’s Joint Simulation Environment.