With $26 million raised in pre-seed and seed funding, Dominion Dynamics is set to enhance its technology focused on protecting the Canadian Arctic, expand its team with hundreds of new engineers, and establish a 25,000-square-foot facility in Kanata.
On Monday, the Ottawa-based defense tech startup revealed it has secured $21 million in seed funding. This money will help speed up the rollout of “Auranet,” a system of sensors and autonomous technologies meant to keep an eye on Canada’s northern border, along with a drone designed to work alongside fifth-generation fighter jets.
The seed round was led by Georgian, with contributions from Bessemer Venture Partners and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI). It stands out as one of the largest early-stage investments in the defense field, according to a press release from Dominion, which has gathered a total of $26 million since it started last year.
The company was founded by Eliot Pence, a general partner at Tofino Capital based in Washington, D. C., who previously led U. S. defense firm Anduril Industries’ global expansion from 2018 to 2022.
Since launching, Dominion has created a sensor network that enables Canadian Rangers to send data from areas without communication infrastructure like cellphone towers. The firm focuses on small devices akin to Apple Air Tags that can be attached to cellphones and cameras. These sensors gather information such as videos and voice notes and relay it to military personnel at nearby bases. Software can then generate real-time 3D maps of rangers’ movements.
“We are building systems that can scale, talk to each other, and be risked in combat,” said Pence in Monday’s release. “Future deterrence will depend on speed of fielding, economic advantage, and the ability to operate across domains.”
The company has successfully conducted field trials in northern Ontario and is currently active in the Yukon area, confirming its systems are ready for use by Canada and NATO partners.
“Defense is no longer just about hardware; it is about software, data, and speed,” said Margaret Wu, lead investor at Georgian. “In our view, Dominion Dynamics represents the future of the Canadian ecosystem: deep tech, dual-use, and mission-critical. We are backing a team that is fundamentally reimagining how Canada and its allies protect their interests.”
Last October, Pence shared with OBJ that his company takes a “different approach to the market” by actively identifying challenges and addressing them upfront so customers will buy into their solutions rather than waiting for requests for proposals from the defense sector.
“It doesn’t get us involved in long bureaucratic processes and requirements writing,” Pence explained back then. “We just want to show things and have the government say ‘Yeah we like this or we don’t like this.’ And we’re willing to take that risk. If we wait for an RFP we’ll die. We’re venture-backed. We have to land and expand rapidly.”
Dominion has enlisted several prominent advisors including former Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole; former chief of defense staff Wayne Eyre; and Neil Cunningham who was formerly CEO of Public Sector Pension Investments Board.
With this funding secured, Dominion states it’s “actively hiring engineering and operational talent in Ottawa and Toronto” as part of nationwide recruitment plans aiming for five times more engineers across Canada.
The company intends to open a new development office in Toronto along with its 25,000-square-foot factory in Kanata while also expanding its XLabs programs at additional universities.
