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From our Studio to the largest European defence tech funding round
How our Founders Associate helped ARX Robotics lay the foundation for growth
In July 2023, ARX Robotics, developer of software-driven unmanned ground robotics systems for military and civilian use cases, successfully raised its pre-seed round and joined our portfolio as one of the first dual-use ventures. After having passed Project A’s studio programme the team not only successfully built a first product portfolio of four robotic platform models, but was able to quickly generate first relevant sales and traction. Driven to become Europe's leader in mobile robotics, the team was very dedicated to maintaining the fast paced growth trajectory, but was facing boundaries in terms or organizational capacity to realize the potential growth levers.
The goals and aspired next steps: The ambitions were clear - to advance their products to mass readiness, open a first production site, and grow and professionalize their team. Furthermore, they aimed to unlock growth opportunities in the EU defence market and enter into the first commercial market. These goals were essential to securing ARX Robotics’ position as a leader in the field.
The requirement: To realize these aspirations and match the potential of a market on the verge of a breakthrough, securing the next fundraising round was crucial. This would provide the necessary expansion in the realms of product development, manufacturing, and overall growth.
To support the ARX founders in laying the foundations for fast growth and operationally structure the fundraising process, a member of Project A’s Sales & GTM Team joined ARX as Founders Associate, acting as fully operational right-hand to the 3-headed founding team. The support pillars included:
1. Fundraising:
- Pitch deck / storyline creation; data room setup and access control; financial model building
- Investor pipeline management; continuous investor engagement, nurturing and communications
2. Org building:
- Assistance in bringing organizational setup to the next level with implementation of new tools, dedicated processes, meeting cadence & structures
- Onboarding new hires such as Manager CEO Office and Head of Business Development
3. Commercial:
- Guiding the founders in creating a minimal viable sales setup, defining sales processes and setting up a CRM in order to ultimately move from founders-led sales to the first sales hire
- Managing the governmental sales pipeline and providing significant back-office support in closing the deals and contracts
- Creation of basic collateral and assets to professionalize sales / marketing / general communications and drive lead generation and continuous nurturing of existing network
- Coordination and implementation of rebranding to “ARX Robotics”
- Driving forward civil market exploration with validation of initial expansion segment and building first civil sales pipeline
Having Project A's associate join us as a true extension of our team was invaluable in the critical early stages of building our business. Her hands-on support across almost every aspect of the business was pivotal in enabling us to secure the largest European defence-tech Seed Round and set the basis for future growth.
The support of Project A lasted for 10 months during which ARX ultimately was able to raise the largest European defence-tech Seed Round and get additional strategic investors on board. With the NATO Innovation Fund as lead investor supported by Project A and Discovery Ventures, ARX is now well positioned to fulfil its mission of contributing to European tech resilience and sovereignty.
Additionally, by providing operational support, we were able to multiply the founder team’s capacity, allow the founders to focus on the main levers whilst setting significant growth foundations across several areas.
Want to learn more? Contact us at selina.halusa@project-a.com
Selina Halusa
