PiggyGPT

Private companiesCovered

CX2

El Segundo, California · Founded 2024

CX2 builds electronic warfare hardware and software: the Vadris RF-seeking payload for FPV drones, which finds the pilots and ground stations behind enemy drones, and Wraith, an airborne platform that geolocates hostile emitters under GPS jamming. More than 450 Vadris systems have been fielded to the U.S. Department of War.

Profile

What it builds and who buys it

  • ·Vadris is a software-defined RF-seeking payload for FPV drones. It detects, direction-finds and locates RF emitters and overlays directional cues on the live FPV video feed. It weighs 1.2 lbs and is NDAA compliant.CX2 (product page)
  • ·Vadris costs less than $10,000 and has detected control links at a range of several kilometres, chief executive Nathan Mintz told Tectonic in November 2025.Tectonic, Nov 5, 2025
  • ·Vadris launched in November 2025 for most commercial Group 1 FPV drones and mounts and calibrates in minutes. CX2 says operators in U.S. military exercises located hidden controllers after minutes of training.CX2 (company release), Nov 5, 2025
  • ·The Defense Innovation Unit downselected Vadris for Design Reference Mission 2 of Project G.I. in November 2025. For that phase Vadris was integrated with a Neros Archer drone.CX2 (company release), Nov 18, 2025
  • ·More than 450 Vadris systems have been fielded to the U.S. Department of War. Vadris SDR, launched in October 2026, extends it from ExpressLRS to other FPV control protocols, including TBS Crossfire and DJI OcuSync.CX2 (company release), Oct 1, 2026
  • ·Wraith is a Group 2 airborne EW platform of about 32 pounds that geolocates hostile emitters under GPS jamming. It was developed under a cooperative research and development agreement with a U.S. government component and flown at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany.CX2 (company release), Dec 2, 2025
  • ·Wraith flies for about 45 minutes, carries RF geolocation and a gimballed EO/IR sensor, and is compatible with Lattice, TAK and Ravic.CX2 (product page)
  • ·CX2 was dual selected in April 2026 for Design Reference Mission 3 of Project G.I., with Wraith and a second, unreleased product, positioning both for procurement and use in INDOPACOM.CX2 (company release), Apr 13, 2026
  • ·Tectonic reported that the DRM 3 procurement contract is worth $2 million for 30 Wraiths and 25 units of the unreleased product, which Porter Smith said is in the RF deception space.Tectonic, Apr 13, 2026
  • ·At the Army’s Scarlet Dragon exercise with the XVIII Airborne Corps, CX2’s sensors detected and tracked RF emissions from UAS and Apache helicopters, and the Army used Picogrid’s Legion to cue a radar from them.Picogrid (company release), Dec 18, 2025
  • ·Smith told Tectonic that Wraith and Vadris form a hunter-killer pairing: Wraith maps the emitters and Vadris is used to find and strike them.Tectonic, Dec 2, 2025

Founders and leadership

  • Porter SmithChief executive and co-founder

    A former investment partner at a16z and Autonomy Team Fellow at the Defense Innovation Unit. He spent a decade flying AH-64 Apaches and MH-6 Little Birds for the U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation Command and graduated from West Point.CX2 (company site)

  • Lee ThompsonChief technology officer and co-founder

    Led the RF engineering team at SpaceX, including work on the communications platform for Starship. He holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech.CX2 (company site)

  • Nathan MintzCo-founder

    Spent 14 years as an EW and radar systems engineer at Raytheon and Boeing, then founded Epirus and Spartan, an automotive radar company.CX2 (company site)

  • Mark TrefgarneCo-founder

    Founder and chief executive of LiveRail, a video ad exchange Meta acquired for $500 million, and later Product Director for AdTech Platforms at Meta.CX2 (company site)

Prospects, after the October 2026 Vadris SDR launch

Prepared by PiggyGPT, as of Oct 15, 2026

  • ·The customer on file is the U.S. military: more than 450 Vadris systems fielded to the Department of War, two Project G.I. selections, and a reported $2 million DRM 3 contract for Wraith and an unreleased product.CX2 (company release), Oct 1, 2026
  • ·No revenue figure and no valuation are on file.
  • ·The capital on file is a reported $15 million seed and a $31 million Series A in May 2025. Tectonic put the total raised at about $46 million in March 2026. No later round is reported.Tectonic, Mar 2, 2026
  • ·Leadership changed in 2026. Tectonic named Nathan Mintz chief executive and Porter Smith head of warfare in April 2026. CX2’s October 2026 release names Smith chief executive.Tectonic, Apr 13, 2026
  • ·For the acquisition read, the investors on file are venture firms: Andreessen Horowitz, 8VC, Point72 Ventures, Upfront, Pax and 201 Ventures. The partners on file, Neros and Picogrid, are venture-backed start-ups. No defense prime holds a cited stake, and no talks or approach are on file. The posture is quiet.Los Angeles Business Journal, Jun 16, 2025

A summary of what the figures on this page add up to, prepared by PiggyGPT from the record on file and its cited sources. Not the Street's view, and not advice.

Funding

Last valuation

No citable valuation

Last round or tender

$31Mraised

Series Adot.LA, May 23, 2025

Led by Point72 Ventures. The Los Angeles Business Journal names Upfront Ventures, Pax Ventures and 201 Ventures as new investors and Andreessen Horowitz and 8VC as returning ones. No valuation was stated.

Latest revenue figure

—

Valuation to revenue

—

Post-money valuation by round

Fewer than two dated figures on file to plot; the table carries what there is.

DateRoundRaisedPost-money
May 23, 2025Series ALed by Point72 Ventures. The Los Angeles Business Journal names Upfront Ventures, Pax Ventures and 201 Ventures as new investors and Andreessen Horowitz and 8VC as returning ones. No valuation was stated.$31M—
Jun 7, 2024SeedForbes reported that Andreessen Horowitz’s American Dynamism team was leading a $15 million seed round with 8VC, which CX2 was finalizing while still in stealth. 8VC confirmed its investment. The valuation was not reported. No cited source dates the close; the Los Angeles Business Journal names a16z and 8VC as existing investors at the Series A, and Tectonic put the total raised at about $46 million in March 2026.$15M—

Primary capital across the rounds on file: $46M

Revenue

No citable revenue figure on file.

Secondary venues

  • Clarity (formerly Hiive)public page seen Oct 15, 2026

    Clarity Price $6.00, as of Oct 15, 2026

    Clarity calls the figure a model-derived indicative estimate calculated daily and shows it unchanged all time; the page dates it no further than a "last updated" line reading August 28, 2026. Bids, asks and matches are behind a login.

  • Noticepublic page seen Oct 15, 2026

    No price on the public page.

    The page blocks automated fetches; only its title rendered in a search result, with no figure.

A venue is listed when its public page named the company on the date shown. A price is the figure that page showed, under the venue’s own name for it and dated as the venue dated it; it is a level the venue publishes, not a trade. Nothing is recorded from behind a login.

Reads

Acquisition: Quiet

No cited tie to a buyer. What is on file is contracts, rounds and partnerships without one.

Prepared by PiggyGPT, as of Oct 15, 2026

Signals

  • Jun 7, 2024Forbes reported that Andreessen Horowitz was leading a $15 million seed round in CX2 with 8VC.Forbes (via Forbes Australia), Jun 7, 2024
  • May 23, 2025CX2 raised a $31 million Series A led by Point72 Ventures, with Andreessen Horowitz, 8VC and Pax Ventures participating, dot.LA reported.dot.LA, May 23, 2025
  • Dec 18, 2025Picogrid announced a partnership with CX2, whose systems became natively compatible with Picogrid’s Legion integration platform after the Army’s Scarlet Dragon exercise.Picogrid (company release), Dec 18, 2025
  • Mar 2, 2026CX2 and Neros announced a strategic partnership to integrate Vadris on Neros’ Archer FPV drone and align product roadmaps and go-to-market efforts.CX2 (company release), Mar 2, 2026
  • Apr 13, 2026Tectonic reported a $2 million DIU procurement contract for 30 Wraiths and 25 units of an unreleased CX2 product, for a unit in INDOPACOM.Tectonic, Apr 13, 2026

A summary of what the figures on this page add up to, prepared by PiggyGPT from the record on file and its cited sources. Not the Street's view, and not advice.

Sources

Researched Oct 15, 2026