Rilian Raises $17.5 Million to Bring Agentic AI to Sovereign Defence
April 23, 2026 - 7:20 pm
Rilian, a McLean, Virginia-based startup building agentic AI systems integration for defence and national security customers, has raised $17.5 million in seed and seed extension funding. The round was led by 8VC, First In, and Tamarack Global, with participation from 8090 Industries, Liquid 2 Ventures, Perot Jain, and Protego Ventures.
Funds will be allocated towards:
- Go-to-market expansion across the US and Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
- Engineering hiring.
- Research and development in AI-powered cyber and defence solutions for governments and critical infrastructure operators.
The Company’s Offering
Rilian's core product is Caspian, an AI-native security orchestration platform that functions as a command layer across an organization’s entire security stack. Instead of relying on human analysts to monitor disconnected tools, Caspian deploys pre-trained AI agents that automate threat detection, countermeasures, and targeting autonomously.
The platform is tailored for environments where commercial security tools struggle:
- Air-gapped networks
- Sovereign cloud deployments
- On-premise infrastructure
- Compliance-constrained government systems
Rilian claims Caspian can implement capability updates within days, rather than weeks, and captures the institutional knowledge of human security experts to accelerate onboarding.
Addressing a Structural Issue
Rilian tackles a structural problem: translating advanced cybersecurity technology into operational use at national scale. While defence ministries and national security agencies have access to such technology, deployment presents challenges related to procurement and staffing.
CEO and co-founder Christian Schnedler emphasizes that Rilian's platform solves a deployment issue disguised as a technology problem:
“Rilian was built to turn security into an execution success, not a procurement and human staffing problem.”
Investor Syndicate
The investor syndicate reflects the global reach of Rilian’s ambition. Notable backers include:
- 8VC, a San Francisco-based fund co-founded by Joe Lonsdale (also investing in Palantir and Anduril).
- First In, an investor in Anduril, the US defence technology company.
- Tamarack Global, focused on defence and national security.
- Protego Ventures, an Israeli defence-tech fund founded in 2024 with $70 million in funding; co-founder Lital Leshem is also a co-founder of Carbyne, the emergency response software company acquired for $625 million earlier this year.
The combination of US and Israeli defence-tech investors alongside Gulf-focused capital underscores Rilian's global significance.