SpaceX isn't the only defense tech IPO that VCs should care about - PitchBook

Hawkeye 360 filed its S-1 on Friday with little fanfare, but it'll be an early signal about investor appetite.

When HawkEye 360, a satellite surveillance company that's growing quickly, goes public, it will be just a fraction of what's expected from SpaceX's behemoth listing.

But the market's reception of the small defense tech startup, founded in 2015 and backed by BlackRock, Insight Partners, NightDragon and Razor's Edge Ventures, will be an early indicator of what to expect for public listings from other companies in the sector.

Hawkeye 360 runs a signals intelligence platform. It operates a constellation of satellites that detect and geolocate radio frequency signals, then sells that data and analytics to customers that are mostly governments.

The company had a tremendous year, per its S-1 document filed publicly Friday. Its revenue jumped 75%, from $67 million in 2024 to $117.7 million in 2025, while its operating expenses grew by less than 20%. At the same time, its backlog -- contracted revenue that hasn't yet been delivered or billed -- grew more than 6x in 2025 to $302 million. Both Hawkeye's net income and adjusted EBITDA turned positive last year.

"The backlog growth is the clearest signal that this is a real business with a real customer base," said Ali Javaheri, senior emerging tech analyst at PitchBook.

Overall, Hawkeye's S-1 filing paints a picture of a company riding the wave of booming defense tech spending by the US government and its allies. It said current geopolitical conflicts "may provide potential new opportunities for our business."

How Hawkeye performs in its first few months in the public markets will be a useful data point for the sector, as it's emblematic of the typical VC-backed defense tech startup. "They're still running operating losses, which tells you the company is very much in investment mode," Javaheri said.

VCs haven't been shy about investing in unprofitable defense tech companies. Last quarter saw the second-highest VC deal total on record in the industry, and much of which went to companies spending heavily.

Overall deal count in defense tech now resembles that at the height of the last tech boom in 2021. But if more startups can follow Hawkeye's path to become a real, sustained business, then the exit outcomes may look very different.

The Iran war has had an energizing effect on an already hot area in VC. But as investors hail the opportunities in reshoring US defense manufacturing and selling into a Pentagon much more favorable to startups than a decade ago, the US government is not the only significant customer.

While 61% of Hawkeye's revenue in 2025 came from contracts with the US government, agencies or subcontracts with other government contractors, nearly one-quarter of its revenue ($46 million) came from international sources.