Volund Manufacturing secures $12M in seed financing to build MIL-SPEC propulsion systems, automated manufacturing capabilities

HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA — June 9, 2026 — Volund Manufacturing, a company building attritable, low-cost propulsion systems, today announced a $12M seed financing co-led by Root Ventures and Squadra Ventures, with participation from Marlinspike, First In, and Output Ventures. 

Volund has re-engineered the production of engines for the era of affordable mass. The company’s software-driven manufacturing execution system (MES) is built to deliver low-cost systems at the pace, precision, and flexibility required by the fast-evolving supply base.

“Continued superiority depends on rapidly accelerating the adaptability of our domestic supply chain. We want things cheaper, we want them faster, we want them updated as often as the technology can be updated,” said Volund CEO Eric Hostetler. “Volund is committed to building not only products at the speed and adaptation demanded, but creating a factory model optimized for the speed that we now need our military to move at the reliability that our military demands.”

Recent conflict and the exposed fragility of munitions stockpiles have illustrated the need to establish a supply base that quickly replenishes systems and builds for up-to-the-moment needs. Combining a background in consumer goods manufacturing and defense industry execution, the Volund team developed their MES to bring Design for Manufacture principles from the private sector to the defense industrial base.

Key to the MES is a software-driven model that creates a digital thread across the manufacturing process. Operating in a vertically integrated environment, this enables real-time process control, traceability, and rapid variant development. 

As the demand for attritable munitions continues to grow, the supply base needs to rapidly expand capacity. The company’s first product is a 100 pound thrust class turbojet engine designed for low-cost attritable cruise missiles and UAS platforms, designed, tested, built, and productionized entirely within their software-defined factory. Volund is building turbine engines that are MIL-SPEC, performant, and available faster and cheaper than currently available systems. Through the company’s modular approach, production of these systems can be easily scaled up and adapted, without a new supplier order, allowing manufacturing to accelerate at the pace of need.

“Eric and the Volund team bring undeniable strength of experience and they are absolutely ready to take on this moment in American reindustrialization,” said Squadra Managing Partner Guy Filippelli. “We are proud to support their work not just to unlock capacity for attritable munitions but drive manufacturing innovations for our supply chain at a time when massive acceleration of capability is critical.”

“This is cool as hell,” said Root Ventures Partner Kane Hsieh.

With the funds, the company will accelerate engineering product development, aiming to fly prototype engines with key partners later this year and move into initial production in early 2027. 

About Volund Manufacturing: Volund is building the manufacturing architecture for America's next industrial revolution. By designing and producing scalable, low-cost propulsion systems for attritable drones and next-gen defense systems, Volund pairs commercial manufacturing capability with advanced manufacturing automation to transform US supply chain resilience. Volund aims to provide low-cost systems and innovations for those that build to deter conflict in the world. Media Contact: Eric Hostetler <eric@volundmfg.com>

About Root Ventures: Root Ventures is a San Francisco-based deep tech seed fund. As engineers, they specialize in leading initial funding for founders tackling new technical opportunities. With only a selective few new deals a year and 2/3 of their funds in reserve, they are committed to being a long-term partner. Media Contact: Kane Hsieh <kane@root.vc>

About Squadra Ventures: Squadra Ventures is a venture capital firm led by founder-operators that invests in early-stage national security companies advancing the critical edge. Grounded in the belief that success is a combination of people, product, and planning, the Squadra team provides transformational support to startup leaders in the complex dual-use technology ecosystem. By applying a growth-stage mindset at the seed stage and a commitment to building alongside entrepreneurs, Squadra empowers extraordinary teams to win and leave a lasting positive impact on the world. Media Contact: Margaret Roth <margaret@squadra.vc>