Despite the investment downturn, funds are still flowing in... 5 startups addressing the "real economy" issues

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Artificial intelligence and software still remain at the core of startup investments, but over the past month, a significant portion of notable private investments have targeted “real-world” issues such as factories, battlefields, recycling facilities, and food supply chains. This indicates that funds are flowing into companies attempting to change actual production, resource recycling, and industry operations rather than digital services.

Notable cases include a defense startup aiming to produce drones and components near battlefields, a clean technology company recycling key raw materials from discarded solar panels, and a food tech company seeking to produce “cell-based milk” without relying on cows. Analysts believe that although the overall market investment tone has become more conservative, companies focused on solving clear industrial challenges like supply chains, manufacturing efficiency, and resource recovery still attracted funding.

Firestorm Labs Raises $82 Million to Manufacture Near Battlefields

Based in San Diego, USA, Firestorm Labs raised $82 million (approximately 123.0492 billion Korean won) in Series B funding last month. The round was led by Washington Harbor Partners, with participation from IQT, Lockheed Martin, Ritiquity Ventures, Booz Allen Ventures, and others. According to Crunchbase, its total investment has approached about $150 million.

The company develops military modular drones and the “Expedition Manufacturing System.” Its core is utilizing a containerized production platform called “xCell,” designed to enable the direct manufacturing of drones, replacement parts, and other equipment near the battlefield. This aligns with military considerations in regions like Indo-Pacific where supply and logistics are weak, thus attracting attention.

A decade ago, defense technology was seen as a somewhat limited field by venture capitalists, but the atmosphere has changed significantly. This year, VC funding categorized as military, national security, and law enforcement-related has exceeded $13.6 billion, more than 1.5 times the total for last year.

Mina Paltas, founder and chief investment officer of Washington Harbor Partners, said, “The outcome of future conflicts depends on the ability to rapidly, massively produce, adapt, and maintain systems,” and revealed that the company is betting on a new manufacturing model that replaces centralized supply chains with deployable container units.

This trend is not limited to specialized defense investment firms. Recently, in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz and Thrive Capital, Anduril Industries raised an additional $5 billion, with a valuation reaching $61 billion. This is seen as a signal that defense startups are now integrated into Silicon Valley’s mainstream investment themes.

Manifest OS Secures $60 Million for AI-Driven Law Firm Operating System

Legal tech startup Manifest OS received $60 million (approximately 49.2M Korean won) in Series A funding. The company’s valuation reached $750 million. The round was led by Menlo Ventures, with participation from Kleiner Perkins, First Round Capital, and Quiet Capital.

Legal tech has been one of the fastest-growing fields in recent years. Especially as AI rapidly penetrates the paperwork-heavy legal industry, related investments exceeded $4 billion last year. However, Manifest OS’s approach differs from the common method of selling software to traditional law firms.

The company explains that, unlike traditional law firms that maintain hourly billing models, they only provide their operating system to law firms that adopt a “performance-based fee” model centered on AI. It offers AI software that assists lawyers, as well as a central backend covering client engagement, business development, lawyer assistants, and other administrative tasks. The company claims this allows lawyers to focus more on complex legal matters.

Investor David Sacks, former general counsel at Salesforce, Groupon, and Slack, commented, “Businesses want transparency, predictability, and speed in billing, while lawyers want to focus on delivering results rather than just justifying billable hours,” and believes Manifest OS’s model aligns these interests.

Another feature is that all law firms using the platform will operate under the unified brand “Manifest Law.” The company states this helps maintain consistency in pricing, response speed, and service quality. The initial application area is corporate immigration law. The company claims to have gained over 150 corporate clients within 18 months of launch and has hired more than 100 lawyers. The acceptance rate is below 1%.

French ROSI Raises $23 Million to Expand Solar Panel Recycling

French clean tech startup ROSI announced it has secured €20 million (about $23 million) in funding to achieve industrial-scale recycling of discarded solar panels. Approximately 90B Korean won. The funding was raised through Series B investment and grants, with investors including EIT InnoEnergy, CMA CGM, the European Innovation Council, and Spanish family office G3T.

As solar adoption increases, the issue of waste panel processing is rapidly emerging. ROSI states that by 2050, millions of tons of solar panels will reach the end of their lifespan. The company has developed technology to recover high-purity raw materials such as silver, silicon, copper, aluminum, and glass from these panels and reintroduce them into industrial use.

The funds will be used to build the first large-scale recycling plant in Spain, with an annual processing capacity of 10k tons. Yun Luo, co-founder and representative of ROSI, said, “Our goal is to establish a circular industry platform that transforms end-of-life solar panels into a high-purity strategic raw material supply for European industry.”

Investment in clean tech has cooled compared to previous years. According to Crunchbase data, investments in clean tech, electric vehicles, and sustainability-related startups in 2025 have fallen to the lowest levels in nearly five years. Nevertheless, in fields like solar energy and recycling, where policies and actual demand are clear, larger-scale investments continue to flow.

Opalia Secures $2.3 Million in Seed Funding for Cell-Based Milk Supply

Based in Montreal, Canada, Opalia recently received CA$3.2 million (about $2.3 million) in seed funding. Approximately 34.5138 billion Korean won. The round was led by Nadara Ventures, with participation from Spring Impact Capital, UCeed, Ange Québec, Investissement Québec, Cycle Momentum, and BoxOne Ventures.

The company was previously called “BetterMilk,” and describes itself as producing “full milk” containing proteins, fats, and sugars, without relying on cows, through mammary cells in bioreactors. In recent years, the fields of alternative proteins and cell-based foods have seen significant growth.