Valarian, a British technology company building sovereign digital infrastructure for secure AI and high-consequence environments, has raised $50 million (£37 million) in Series A funding led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA). The round brings total funding to $70 million (£52 million) and will support the expansion of UK-sovereign digital architecture across government, defence and enterprise. NEA, Lightbank, XTX Ventures, Sequel, Litquidity VC and angel investors Gokul Rajaram and Nikesh Arora participated.
Strengthening Britain’s Sovereign AI Capabilities
The investment marks NEA’s first defence and dual-use investment in Europe and comes amid growing demand for infrastructure that gives organisations greater control over sensitive data, AI systems and critical technology.
Secure Infrastructure for Government and Enterprise
Valarian’s core platform, ACRA, enables secure AI deployment while keeping sensitive information within an organisation’s own environment. The broader technology portfolio supports the governance, security and scaling of AI across government, defence and enterprise.
Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, Luke Pollard MP, said: “To strengthen our national security, we need more innovative British companies like Valarian building the technologies that will define our future. This announcement is a strong vote of confidence in the UK's world-leading defence and dual-use technology sector, and in the UK's ability to build the critical capabilities our security and prosperity depend on.”
Accelerating Sovereign Technology
The new capital will accelerate Valarian’s expansion as demand for sovereign AI infrastructure grows across highly regulated and security-sensitive sectors.
Max Buchan, CEO and Co-Founder of Valarian, said: “We've always believed Britain has the talent and ambition to be a global leader in AI. To do that, we need to build the sovereign digital infrastructure that allows government, defence and enterprise to adopt AI securely while remaining in control of their own data.
“This investment allows us to accelerate that work, strengthen sovereign AI capabilities and ensure more of the technology underpinning our future is built here in Britain.”
Mustafa Neemuchwala, Partner at NEA, said: “The critical question of the AI era isn't which model wins - it's who controls the environment intelligence operates inside. Valarian answers that question with genuine defence-grade architecture. This is NEA's first defence and dual-use investment in Europe, and we made it because Valarian is building the control infrastructure layer the sovereign AI era requires.”