By Emily Rose
TEL AVIV (Reuters) - The drone that tracked Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and filmed him as he lay dying in footage beamed around the world last October was made by Israeli startup Xtend, according to media reports, one of many such firms to get a boost from Israel's war needs.
Xtend's co-founder and CEO Aviv Shapira declined to comment on the unsourced reports, but told Reuters his company provides indoor drones to the Israeli army, which has looked beyond just major manufacturers for a cutting edge in its assault on Gaza that followed Hamas' deadly attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Xtend drones integrate artificial intelligence to conduct high-precision strikes, and can be operated from 9,000 kilometres (5,600 miles) away with minimal human intervention.
"We're actually re-learning how to fight with robots," Shapira said in an interview.
The Israeli Defence Force and Israeli defence ministry declined to comment on the equipment used to target Sinwar.
In Ukraine, startups making drones and other military technology and equipment have proliferated, and helped it hold off much larger Russian forces. Small, nimble companies with a focus on innovation have proved vital in a war where rapid solutions can trump years of design and product testing.
Startups are a "group of few people that can do something in weeks", and war creates an urgency for immediately usable technology, said military expert Isaac Ben-Israel.
Israel already had a thriving startup scene, meaning its companies may be better placed to capitalise on the wartime boom, with some already winning orders from abroad and aiming to shape the battlefield of the future.
In less than a year and a half of war, Xtend has signed a major contract with Israel's defence ministry, raised $40 million in its second funding round in August, and signed an $8.8 million contract with the U.S. government, Shapira said.
Sequoia Capital, a U.S. venture capital fund managing around $85 billion focusing on early-stage investment, returned to investing in Israel after the Oct. 7 attacks, having previously not invested in companies there since 2016.
"War gives people experience," Sequoia partner Shawn Mcguire told Reuters.
High-tech is Israel's economic engine, accounting for 16% of employment, more than half of exports, a third of income taxes, and 20% of overall economic output.
'NEW CAPABILITIES'
Xtend's Shapira was carrying his surfboard to the beach on Oct. 7 when he heard sirens warning of incoming rockets from Gaza. In less than 12 hours, he had dispatched a fleet of drones to help search and secure buildings, he said, in the kind of rapid response essential in emergencies.