Valarian raises £37.4m series A led by NEA and Lightbank
This article covers Valarian, a London-headquartered startup, and its £37.4m series A funding to accelerate development of a sovereign infrastructure layer for high-consequence operations and AI-driven systems. The funding is intended to speed delivery of its workload-level governance platform for enterprise and government customers, targeting regulated, mission-critical AI deployments and sovereign defence use cases.
Valarian has raised £37.4m in a series A funding round to accelerate development of a sovereign infrastructure layer for high-consequence operations and AI-driven systems. The London-headquartered company says the capital will speed delivery of its workload-level governance platform for enterprise and government customers and brings total funding to £52.4m.
Why it matters
The announcement lands as governments and organisations wrestle with who controls the infrastructure that underpins AI and mission-critical systems. Valarian positions itself as an alternative to a small number of dominant cloud and intelligence providers by embedding governance and control at the infrastructure layer rather than as an add-on.
That shift is relevant at multiple levels: defence planners seeking non-dependence on foreign-controlled systems, enterprises needing compartmentalisation for regulated workloads, and policymakers working to translate AI strategy into deployable, sovereign capability. The UK government highlighted this overlap between national security and economic competitiveness in its response to the round.
Kanishka Narayan, UK Minister for AI and Online Safety, said:
Today, AI is the defining currency of both hard and soft power. To shape our own destiny, in accordance with our values, it is imperative that we build Britain's sovereign AI capabilities. Pioneering British firms like Valarian understand the challenge that's in front of us and are building the solutions that will help us deliver a safer and stronger Britain. Investments like these are helping to keep the UK at the frontier of AI development, and complement the work we're doing through our Sovereign AI Fund, AI Hardware Plan and more to build Britain's AI strengths.
Inside the product
Valarian provides workload-level governance across the environments where critical applications and AI systems run. Its platform enforces policies at the infrastructure layer so that every deployed capability inherits governance automatically. Key features the company highlights include compartmentalisation, control over system communications and data access, and infrastructure-enforced operational controls intended for high-consequence workloads.
The company says it will pursue two deployment tracks: Valarian Enterprise, aimed at organisations deploying AI and regulated workloads that require fine-grained governance; and Valarian Defence, aimed at sovereign nations and defence programmes where control over mission-critical workloads is non-negotiable. Valarian was founded by Max Buchan and Josh McLaughlin and is headquartered in London.
Who are the investors?
The series A brings Valarian to £52.4m in total funding. The round was supported by a mix of institutional and individual backers. Leading the round is New Enterprise Associates (NEA); other participants include Lightbank, XTX Markets, Sequel and LitVC, alongside angel investors Gokul Rajaram and Nikesh Arora.
NEA frames the investment as part of its thesis on foundational infrastructure at moments when markets demand a new control layer. The firm’s move also marks its first defence and dual-use investment in Europe, a signal that institutional capital is paying closer attention to sovereign infrastructure opportunities.
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.
If you're researching potential backers in this space:
- Explore our list of AI venture capital firms in the UK
- Browse our directory of AI angel investors in the UK
Founder perspective
Max Buchan, CEO and Co-Founder of Valarian, framed the product in terms of architectural urgency rather than incremental features. Max Buchan, CEO and Co-Founder of Valarian, said:
The intelligence layer of Western institutions is consolidating: quietly, contract by contract, department by department, into systems those institutions do not control. We built Valarian because sovereignty isn't a feature you can add later. It's architecture you have to build from the ground up. This round gives us the capital to take that architecture to the organisations that need it most, at the moment they need it most.
The company says the new funding will accelerate both enterprise and defence deployments, scaling engineering and customer engagements aimed at regulated and mission-critical environments.
The bigger picture
Valarian’s raise points to a growing niche at the intersection of AI and national security: technologies designed not just to enable AI but to ensure where and how it runs can be controlled by the owner. As NATO allies increase spending on AI-enabled capabilities and the UK pushes schemes such as the Sovereign AI Fund and AI Hardware Plan, there is a clearer market signal for infrastructure startups that offer verifiable control and compartmentalisation.
For investors, the move by a major US firm to back a UK-based infrastructure company signals appetite for dual-use propositions in Europe. For policymakers, it underlines the practical work—beyond strategy documents—needed to convert sovereign intent into deployable systems.
The deal is one to watch for anyone tracking the development of sovereign AI capability and the maturation of infrastructure startups across the UK and Europe.
They've invested in Valarian
Get to know these AI investors
| Investors | Investment Focus | Startup Investments | Round Size | Connect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 New Enterprise Associates( ) Menlo Park, US  | ValarianPeanut | |||
 Lightbank( ) | ||||
 XTX Ventures( ) XTX Ventures focuses on investing in exceptional founders from Seed to Series B ... London  | ||||
 Sequel( ) Miami, US | ||||
 LitVC( ) | ||||
| All investors | All investor sectors | All funded startups | All funding rounds |
| Angel Investors | Location | Connect | Investment Focus | Startup Investments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
San Francisco | ||||
| All angel investors | All locations | All investor sectors | All funded startups |
*These angel investors have publicly mentioned their interest in angel investing or are members of angel networks. (Last updated: July 2026)
Click here for a full list of 7,589+ startup investors in the UK