Mind Foundry, a company established in 2016 by Oxford professors Stephen Roberts and Maike Osborne, has narrowed its operational focus. CEO Lindsay Chadwick, who took the role in late 2025, decided to concentrate the business exclusively on the defence and national security sectors, moving away from its previous work in insurance and infrastructure.
The company secured $13.6 million in a Series A round in 2020, with participation from Parkwalk. Following the strategic shift, more than half of the staff invested their own capital into the firm. Mind Foundry’s software, including products like NIGHTINGALE and SENTRY, is designed to process data from sonar and radar to assist human operators in threat detection.
The UK government has committed £298 billion in defence investment over the next four years. This includes a new £200 million AI investment fund and a £1.6 billion Defence Innovation fund allocated through 2030. Meanwhile, UK and European defence tech startups raised $12.3 billion by late June, nearly doubling the previous year's figures.
