American Strategic Technology Fund Research
Investment Thesis
American Strategic Technology Fund (ASTF) is a newly formed, El Segundo, California-based investment vehicle organized around a single explicit mission: backing American founders building technology critical to U.S. national and economic security. The firm's own site states its purpose as "concentrated partnerships with founders inventing the best possible future for America," paired with the tagline "Accelerate or Die" — signaling an urgency-driven, America-first posture common to the defense-tech and "American Dynamism" wave of venture investing. ASTF is publicly characterized by press coverage as a "Pentagon-affiliated" or "Pentagon-backed" VC, reflecting its positioning inside the broader ecosystem of funds (alongside America's Frontier Fund, Alumni Ventures' U.S. Strategic Tech Fund, and others) that have emerged to bridge the Department of Defense's "valley of death" between prototype and production for critical technologies.
Fund Structure
ASTF appears to operate on a deal-by-deal special purpose vehicle (SPV) model rather than (or in addition to) a traditional blind-pool fund. SEC EDGAR Form D records show "ASTF Neros I LP," a Delaware limited partnership formed in 2026 and based at 1100 Knox Street, Torrance, CA — a few miles from ASTF's stated El Segundo HQ — filed specifically to hold its investment in Neros Technologies. The general partner of that SPV is "ASTF Neros I GP LLC," whose managing member is "American Strategic Technology Fund LLC." This structure suggests ASTF may syndicate capital deal-by-deal into high-conviction defense-tech opportunities rather than deploying from a single committed fund vehicle, though this cannot be confirmed from public sources alone.
Sector Focus
ASTF's only publicly confirmed investment to date is in autonomous drone/counter-drone systems for military use, squarely in the aerospace/defense and robotics/autonomy space. Given the firm's stated mission around "strategic technology" for America, its focus likely extends more broadly across the defense-tech and dual-use hardware landscape (autonomous systems, advanced manufacturing, critical technologies), consistent with the priority areas the Pentagon's own strategic-capital initiatives have flagged: space, AI, cybersecurity, energy storage, semiconductors, autonomous systems, biotech, and quantum.
Stage Focus
The one confirmed data point is a Series C investment, placing ASTF at growth-stage, capital-intensive defense manufacturing scale-ups rather than early-stage seed investing. It is not yet possible to confirm whether ASTF invests earlier as well; conservative extraction treats Series C as the only verified stage.
Check Size
Unknown. ASTF co-led a $250M Series C round alongside Sequoia Capital, but its specific dollar allocation within that round has not been disclosed in any public source found.
Lead Tendency
ASTF co-led its one publicly known investment (with Sequoia Capital), suggesting a willingness and capability to take a lead or co-lead role in large rounds rather than a purely follow-on posture.
Recent Activity
On August 11, 2026, ASTF co-led Neros Technologies' $250M Series C at a $2.5B post-money valuation, alongside Sequoia Capital, with participation from Interlagos, Valor Equity Partners, Allen & Company, Thiel Capital, Spark Capital, and Dylan Field. The round funds two new drone product lines — Archer AI (an autonomous FPV platform with AI-driven terminal guidance and GPS-denied position hold) and Bandit (a counter-UAS interceptor targeting Class 2-3 drone threats) — both scheduled for battlefield deployment by end of 2026. Neros holds contracts with the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, SOCOM components, and allied nations across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, and aims to produce one million drones per year by 2028. The SEC Form D for the related SPV, "ASTF Neros I LP," was filed August 6, 2026, just days ahead of the public announcement.
Portfolio Highlights
- Neros Technologies (neros.tech) — domestically manufactured military drone systems; $250M Series C co-led by ASTF and Sequoia Capital at a $2.5B valuation (August 2026).
No other portfolio companies have been publicly identified as of this research.
Team
- David Larar — Managing Partner (Managing Member of American Strategic Technology Fund LLC, the managing member of the general partner entity behind ASTF's Neros SPV, per SEC Form D filed August 6, 2026). Public background sources place a David Larar previously as an investor at Vy Capital and with prior experience at Goldman Sachs; this professional history has not been independently confirmed as the same individual beyond the name match and is noted here with appropriately lower confidence.
No other team members have been publicly identified. ASTF's website is a minimal, single-page landing site with no team or about page; an "Investor Portal" login link suggests the site is oriented toward existing LPs rather than public marketing.
Decision Process
Unknown. Given the apparent deal-by-deal SPV structure, ASTF's decision process could not be confirmed as solo-GP, full partnership, or investment-committee-driven from available public sources.
Founder Preferences
Based on the one confirmed investment, ASTF backs founders building hard, capital-intensive, dual-use defense technology with existing government contracts and a clear path to production scale — not early-stage, unproven teams.
Geographic Focus
United States-focused, consistent with its explicit "America first" mission and its backing of a U.S. domestic-manufacturing defense company.