Exclusive: Defense firm Overland AI raises $32 million

Overland CEO Byron Boots told Axios the millions will be used to hire more people, sharpen software development and wade into hardware.

• "I know there are a lot of folks who are working on drones and on unmanned aerial vehicles and surface vessels, but there are comparatively fewer in the ground autonomy space," Boots said.
• Other players include Applied Intuition Defense, Forterra, Kodiak Robotics and Neya Systems.
• "You can imagine, the more complex the environment, the harder this gets," Boots said.

Follow the money: The round was led by 8VC, which also works with Anduril Industries, Epirus, Joby Aviation, Palantir Technologies and Saronic.

• Joe Lonsdale, the managing partner at 8VC, told Axios that Overland is postured to become "the next great defense prime."
• Point72 Ventures, Overmatch Ventures, Shasta Ventures, Ascend, Osage University Partners and Caprock participated.

Flashback: Overland partnered with L3Harris Technologies, the 10th largest contractor in the world by defense revenue, on the Diamondback autonomous ground vehicle.

• It was unveiled in October at the Association of the U.S. Army conference.