AnySignal's $24M Bet on Software-Defined Space & Defense Dominance

LOS ANGELES, CA – December 09, 2025 – In a significant move that underscores the growing urgency to modernize critical infrastructure, wireless systems innovator AnySignal has secured a $24 million Series A funding round. Led by Upfront Ventures, the investment is a powerful endorsement of the company's mission to overhaul the aging communication and sensing systems that form the backbone of the space economy and national security. The capital infusion is earmarked to scale production, expand its national security portfolio, and establish a new, fully integrated facility in Los Angeles, signaling a new phase of growth for the deep-tech firm.

This funding arrives at a critical inflection point. As orbital traffic increases and geopolitical tensions rise, the vulnerabilities of legacy infrastructure become more pronounced, creating a fertile market for transformative solutions.

From Brittle Hardware to Adaptive Software

For decades, operators in the defense and aerospace sectors have relied on what AnySignal co-founder and CEO John Malsbury calls "brittle, single-purpose radios." These systems, built with rigid hardware and inflexible processes, are often incapable of adapting to spectrum congestion, sophisticated interference, or evolving electronic threats. This technological inertia poses an unacceptable risk when mission success—and lives—are on the line.

"Failing radios and operational communications breakdowns are less about physics and more about inflexible designs and rigid processes," Malsbury stated. "As more satellites, missiles and drones come online, the weaknesses of existing infrastructure become clear. Without modernization, missions and lives are put at risk and we won't meet the growing demands of the space economy and defense readiness."

AnySignal’s answer to this challenge is to treat the radio-frequency (RF) spectrum as a software-defined resource. By designing the entire "full radio stack"—from the base algorithms and ruggedized hardware to the unifying cloud services—the company has created a platform that is inherently adaptive. This approach allows for the rapid deployment of new capabilities, shrinking development timelines from years to mere weeks. More importantly, it enables systems to respond to attacks or interference in real-time without costly and time-consuming hardware replacements. This agility is the core of modern electronic resilience.

"The commercial world has seen huge advances in communications infrastructure, while defense and space have lagged behind," noted Ricardo Medina, AnySignal's co-founder. "We're modernizing the core building blocks so mission-critical users can finally outpace the threat."

Powering the New Space and Defense Economy

The strategic importance of AnySignal's technology is best understood through the lens of its four key mission pillars: Space Communication, Autonomous Systems, Electronic Warfare, and Radar Systems. These are not just distinct markets; they are converging domains where superior signal processing and adaptive communications confer a decisive advantage.

The market dynamics validate this focus. The global Electronic Warfare (EW) market, valued at over $21 billion in 2024, is projected to surge past $35 billion by 2030 as nations race to gain an edge in the electromagnetic spectrum. Similarly, the military autonomous systems market is on a steep growth trajectory, expected to exceed $24 billion by 2033, driven by the proliferation of unmanned aerial, ground, and naval assets that depend on resilient, high-bandwidth data links. The radar systems market is also expanding, with software-defined architectures becoming a key trend for enhancing detection and tracking capabilities.

AnySignal is already demonstrating its value in this demanding landscape. The company confirmed it has technology on four operational missions currently in orbit. Its pipeline shows accelerating momentum, with 12 additional spacecraft scheduled to launch in the next year utilizing its radios and network services. These missions span the full range of modern orbital operations, from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Geostationary Orbit (GEO) to ambitious lunar expeditions, proving the platform's versatility across diverse and challenging environments.

The Strategic Value of Vertical Integration

A key component of AnySignal's strategy is its move toward full vertical integration. The new Los Angeles facility will consolidate the entire production lifecycle, from algorithm design and hardware engineering to high-rate manufacturing, under a single roof. This is a deliberate and strategic choice designed to build a competitive moat in an industry where speed, quality, and security are paramount.

By controlling the entire process, the company can ensure uncompromising quality, protect its proprietary intellectual property, and drastically shorten iteration cycles. This model, famously leveraged by companies like SpaceX, allows for a level of agility that is impossible when relying on fragmented, external supply chains. It mitigates risks associated with component shortages or geopolitical disruptions while enabling the company to scale production from its current rate of approximately 100 radios per year to a target of 1,000 to 2,000 annually.

This in-house capability is crucial for serving a client base that operates on the cutting edge of technology and under the most stringent security requirements. It allows AnySignal to not only build its products faster and more reliably but also to work more closely with customers to develop custom solutions, ensuring that the technology evolves in lockstep with their mission needs.

Why Venture Capital is Targeting Deep Tech Defense

The $24 million Series A, with participation from firms like BlueYard Capital, Balerion Space Ventures, and First In Ventures, is more than just a vote of confidence in one company. It is a clear indicator of a broader investment trend: the growing venture capital appetite for dual-use technologies that serve both the burgeoning commercial space industry and critical national security needs.

Investors are recognizing that the technological line between commercial and government applications is blurring. A platform that can provide a secure, adaptive communications link for a commercial satellite constellation can also be adapted for a military drone or a naval vessel. This dual-use potential dramatically expands the total addressable market and de-risks the investment thesis.

Mark Suster, general partner at lead investor Upfront Ventures, highlighted the company's strong reputation within the industry as a key factor. "Every founder we talk to in space knows AnySignal and sees it as one of the best solutions available," he commented. "Backing this team was a no-brainer."

This sentiment, echoed by specialized investors like Balerion Space Ventures—a firm explicitly focused on building the next generation of space infrastructure—shows that the market is rewarding companies that can deliver tangible, field-tested solutions to complex engineering problems. As the space and defense sectors continue their rapid evolution, the demand for the resilient, software-defined infrastructure that AnySignal is building will only intensify, positioning the company at the very heart of a critical industry transformation.