Drone startup turns down $100M takeover bid to raise Series B funding

After over two years of continuous medical drone delivery operations across Africa, Australia’s Swoop Aero has completed a $16 million Series B funding round. But what’s even more impressive is that the logistics startup had the confidence to reject a $100 million takeover offer from a US-based defense company, halfway through the round.

The Series B round was led by Australian deep tech venture capital fund Main Sequence and joined by impact-focused fund Giant Leap as well as In-Q-Tel, a nonprofit strategic investor to the US national security community. And for the third time, Artesian Venture Capital and Folklore have reinvested in Swoop Aero.

“We’re thrilled to have the support of such exceptional VC funds as we expand our integrated logistics networks across the globe and look to scale these networks to stack and deliver services that will transform how the world moves,” Eric Peck, CEO of Swoop Aero, said in a statement.

But during an