Overland AI closed a $100M Series B led by 8VC, bringing the Seattle-based startup's total funding to $142M since its 2022 founding as a University of Washington spin-out. The timing matters: the round closes days after the company won a $2M U.S. Army contract to deploy its ULTRA autonomous vehicles with the 1st Cavalry Division.
The company builds OverDrive, an autonomy stack designed for GPS-denied terrain, and OverWatch, a command-and-control platform for managing multiple vehicles simultaneously. Current military integrations span Polaris RZR, Textron Ripsaw M5, and General Dynamics S-MET platforms.
Overland already holds an $18.6M contract from the Army and Defense Innovation Unit for the Robotic Combat Vehicle program. It's also involved in DARPA's RACER program, the Marine Corps' NMESIS system, and the XVIII Airborne Corps' Sandhills Project. Last week, it partnered with CAL FIRE to test autonomous 4-wheelers for wildfire response at Camp Pendleton.
The company was one of three selected from 110 applicants for the Defense Department's Ground Vehicle Autonomy Program, alongside Anduril and Palantir. The xTechOverwatch competition win gave Overland direct access to the 1st Cavalry Division for field testing.
The challenge ahead is execution. Moving from R&D contracts to full-scale supplier for combat operations means proving reliability across vehicle types, real-time coordination, and battlefield conditions. The company is also expanding beyond defense, though details remain limited.
The $100M round follows a $32M Series A led by Point72 Ventures. For context, military autonomous vehicle programs have historically struggled with rough terrain navigation, sensor fusion in GPS-denied environments, and maintenance logistics. Overland's approach focuses specifically on off-road performance, which differentiates it from road-focused autonomy players but also narrows the commercial application.
The Army deployment will be the real test. Demonstrations are one thing. Sustained field operations are another.