Primordial Labs raised an $18 million Series A following an agreement to bring its military voice-control software to General Dynamics Land Systems combat vehicles. Ballistic Ventures led the round announced November 10, with existing investors Squadra Ventures and Lockheed Martin Ventures participating.
Anura translates soldiers’ spoken requests into commands for equipment such as drones and sensors. Primordial says it is supplying small-drone software licenses to Army and special operations units and sells through the Army’s UAS Marketplace. The funding will support hiring and work on military programs already under contract.
The vehicle work addresses a growing workload for smaller crews. The XM30 infantry vehicle program calls for two crew members, compared with three in the Bradley, company officials told Breaking Defense in its October 7 report.
Under the October 7 partnership, GDLS and Primordial say Anura will run on local hardware without needing a cloud connection. GDLS strategy director Geoff Norman described tasks such as changing radio networks and camera views to Breaking Defense, while excluding weapons firing from the software’s role.
As of that October report, Anura was not installed on the XM30 prototypes under Army testing, Norman said. GDLS intended to offer voice controls through future upgrades to XM30 and existing vehicles including the Abrams tank and Stryker.