SMACK Technologies Raises $32M for Pentagon's First Frontier AI Lab
March 3, 2026 · 2 min read
Jared Klein
SMACK Technologies, a two-year-old startup founded by Marine special operations veterans, announced $32 million in combined seed and Series A funding on March 2 to build what it calls the first frontier AI lab dedicated entirely to national security.
The round was led by Geodesic Capital and Costanoa Ventures, with participation from Point72 Ventures, Bloomberg Beta, Scribble Ventures, Washington Harbor Partners, and Fortitude Ventures.
Decision Dominance as a Product
Co-founders Andrew Markoff and Clint Alanis — both former MARSOC (Marine Corps Special Operations Command) personnel with over two decades of combined service — launched the El Segundo, California company in 2024 with a blunt thesis: U.S. military decision-making frameworks are too slow for modern conflict.
SMACK's two product lines, Omega and Alpha, use deep reinforcement learning to convert battlefield and sensor data into rapid tactical decisions. The models are domain-specific, trained on defense data to identify threats, plan logistics, and maintain situational awareness across all time horizons.
"Achieving Decision Dominance is the critical factor that will determine whether global conflict can be avoided," CEO Markoff said in a statement.
The startup has already secured contracts with the Joint Fires Network and the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab — an operational foothold that most defense AI companies spend years pursuing.
The Signal for Defense AI Startups
SMACK's raise reflects a widening aperture for military AI investment beyond traditional prime contractors. The DoD's SBIR/STTR programs continue listing AI-related topics in monthly pre-releases, and companies with domain expertise and military end-users are attracting both venture capital and government contracts simultaneously.
Defense-focused founders and small businesses should watch DoD SBIR announcements, which pre-release new topics the first Wednesday of each month at sbir.gov. AI for command-and-control, logistics optimization, and situational awareness remain priority areas across service branches.
Deeper coverage of defense innovation funding trends is available on the Granted blog.