Y Combinator backs its first defense startup, Ares Industries

The first defense startup to receive backing from Y Combinator, Ares Industries, launched earlier this week.

In a post on the YC website, the startup outlined a vision to build low-cost cruise missiles that will be compatible with existing launch platforms, saying it will “deliver the capabilities that the [Department of Defense] wants in a form factor that’s 10x smaller and 10x cheaper.”

Ares Industries’ founders say they’ve tested prototypes in the Mojave Desert and plan to deliver working missile systems to their first customers in mid-2025.

YC partner Jared Friedman told the Financial Times that the incubator started encouraging defense tech startups to apply earlier this year.

YC’s CEO Garry Tan was an early employee at data analytics company Palantir, which has become hugely successful through its sometimes controversial work for U.S. military, as well as other governments and agencies. CEO Alex Karp defended the company’s “consistently pro-Western view” in a recent New York Times interview.