Y Combinator Backs First Defense Startup Ares Industries

Ares Industries, the inaugural defense venture to receive funding from Y Combinator, was established earlier this week

In a post on the YC website, the startup expressed its intention to develop low-cost cruise missiles compatible with existing launch platforms. The company stated it will “provide the capabilities that the [Department of Defense] desires in a form factor that is 10 times smaller and 10 times cheaper.”

According to the proprietors of Ares Industries, they have conducted prototype testing in the Mojave Desert and intend to provide operational missile systems to their initial clients by mid-2025.

Jared Friedman, a partner at YC, informed the Financial Times that the incubator began promoting defense technology entrepreneurs to submit applications earlier this year.

Garry Tan, the CEO of Y Combinator, was an early employee at Palantir. This data analytics company has succeeded significantly through its occasionally contentious work with the U.S. military and other governments and agencies.

In a recent interview with the New York Times, CEO Alex Karp defended the company’s “consistently pro-Western view.”