{"id":2337,"date":"2026-08-15T00:02:01","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T00:02:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2337"},"modified":"2026-08-15T00:02:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T00:02:01","slug":"code-metal-lands-80-million-pentagon-deal-to-modernize-military-wargaming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2337","title":{"rendered":"Code Metal lands $80 million Pentagon deal to modernize military wargaming"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Preston Fore here. Landing a defense contract has historically meant navigating layers of government bureaucracy, with proposals often taking years to turn into cash. But software unicorn Code Metal is getting something new defense contractors rarely get from the Pentagon: speed.<\/p>\n

\n

The Boston-based firm just landed an $80 million contract to modernize and AI-enable WarMatrix, the Department of War\u2019s wargaming simulation environment, Fortune<\/em> learned exclusively. The process only took less than 12 months.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have never seen them move this fast, and that\u2019s been really exciting,\u201d CEO Peter Morales told Fortune<\/em>, adding that after securing $17 million for the initial operating capability\u2014the minimum version of the system that can be usefully deployed\u2014they received the full funding as an Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreement.<\/p>\n

Code Metal\u2014which builds AI-powered software to translate code across programming languages and verify that it works on different types of hardware\u2014was valued at $1.25 billion in February, when it secured its $125 million Series B, led by Salesforce Ventures.<\/p>\n

The deal comes as venture-backed companies race to turn investors\u2019 enthusiasm for defense technology into actual government business. It also reflects a broader push to bring the Pentagon\u2019s vast, decades-old software infrastructure into the AI era.\u00a0<\/p>\n

WarMatrix is designed to help military planners run sophisticated wargaming and analysis, and Code Metal\u2019s work is expected to allow analyses that once took months to be completed in days.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not replacing decades of validated code,\u201d Morales said. \u201cWe\u2019re really making it reachable to the warfighter and to AI.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Morales spent roughly a decade working at the intersection of hardware and software, including at British defense contractor BAE Systems, MIT\u2019s Lincoln Laboratory, and Microsoft. At BAE, he worked on software and real-time systems for the controversial but vital F-35 fighter jet, where he said he learned how quickly military technology can fall behind the commercial world.<\/p>\n

That has created an opportunity for startups like Code Metal to help the Pentagon preserve decades of validated technology by building a software layer that makes existing infrastructure compatible with newer tools\u2014including AI.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason this industry has been so ripe for disruption is we\u2019re willing to show up with something working rather than a slide deck and gamble that we believe that this is important,\u201d Morales, 38, said.<\/p>\n

About 75% of Code Metal\u2019s business is currently defense-related. Morales necessarily doesn\u2019t see the defense primes\u2014the long-established defense contractors\u2014as competition, but as rather partners and even clients. Code Metal has already worked with the U.S. Air Force as well as Raytheon, L3Harris, and Boeing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe defense primes do things that only they could do,\u201d said Morales. \u201cThey\u2019re not going anywhere. But in some of these forward pushing areas like AI, they understand they need help, and that\u2019s why we\u2019re working with them so closely to help them go faster as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roughly 10,000 new defense companies have entered the market over the past two years, according to an analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. And in the first quarter of 2026, VCs deployed a record $19.8 billion into defense tech across 262 deals.<\/p>\n

Among the 15 highest-valued defense-tech startups\u2014including Anduril and Saronic\u2014Pentagon contract spending tripled last fiscal year from 2022, The<\/em> Wall Street Journal<\/em> reported. However, those companies still only account for less than 1% of total dollars for all defense contractors.<\/p>\n

For startups like Code Metal\u2014which employs 123 people\u2014the challenge now is turning one-off opportunities, like the new $80 million Pentagon deal, into repeatable, expandable business.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s part of the reason the company brought in Ryan Aytay earlier this year to serve as president and COO. Aytay, the former chief business officer at Salesforce and CEO of Tableau, brings the kind of sales and scaling experience Code Metal will need as it looks to turn its early defense wins into a much larger business.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Morales described Aytay as a Sheryl Sandberg-type leader who can help turn Code Metal into an \u201cn of 1\u201d\u2014a company that, like Tesla or Palantir, creates its own category.<\/p>\n

ICYMI\u2026 <\/strong>The deluge of executive departures at OpenAI continues, as the company announced Denise Dresser would be leaving yesterday. Read more here. <\/p>\n

See you Monday,<\/p>\n

Preston Fore
X:<\/strong> @forepreston
Email:<\/strong> preston.fore@fortune.com<\/p>\n

Submit a deal for the Term Sheet newsletter here.<\/p>\n

Joey Abrams curated the deals section of today\u2019s newsletter<\/em>.<\/em> Subscribe here.<\/p>\n

VENTURE CAPITAL<\/h3>\n

– <\/span>Databricks<\/b>, a San Francisco-based data and AI software company, raised $5 billion in funding. <\/span>Coatue<\/b> led the round and was joined by <\/span>Blackstone<\/b>, <\/span>MGX<\/b>, and others.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>Silicon<\/b> Data<\/b>, a New York City-based provider of data and benchmarks for AI-computing infrastructure, raised $30.5 million in Series A funding. <\/span>Valor Atreides AI Fund <\/b>led the round and was joined by <\/span>CME<\/b> Group<\/b>, <\/span>DRW<\/b>, <\/span>Samsung<\/b>, and <\/span>VanEck<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>Mindgard<\/b>, a Boston, Mass.-based AI security software company, raised $30 million in Series A funding. <\/span>Album<\/b> VC<\/b> led the round and was joined by <\/span>Karma<\/b> Ventures<\/b> and existing investors.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>Aligned<\/b> Marketplace<\/b>, a New York City-based marketplace for employers to find primary and specialty care providers, raised $20 million in Series A funding. <\/span>Venrock<\/b> led the round.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>Entravel<\/b> Group<\/b>, a U.S.-based travel-booking infrastructure provider, raised $7.5 million in funding. <\/span>Ethereal<\/b> Ventures<\/b> and <\/span>Finality<\/b> Capital<\/b> led the round and were joined by <\/span>GSR<\/b>, <\/span>Varrock<\/b>, <\/span>G1<\/b> Ventures<\/b>, <\/span>Seier<\/b> Capital<\/b>, and others.<\/span><\/p>\n

PRIVATE EQUITY<\/h3>\n

– <\/span>Thoma<\/b> Bravo<\/b> agreed to acquire <\/span>Accelerant<\/b>, an Atlanta, Ga.-based insurance marketplace platform, for $20.25 per share in cash.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>The District Communications Group<\/b>, a portfolio company of <\/span>Granite Creek Capital Partners<\/b>, merged with<\/span> Urban Emu<\/b>, a Manasquan, N.J.-based digital design and technology agency. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>WindRose<\/b> Health<\/b> Investors<\/b> recapitalized <\/span>Verified<\/b> Clinical Trials<\/b>, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based clinical-trial participant registry provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/span><\/p>\n

EXITS<\/h3>\n

– <\/span>Braemont<\/b> Capital<\/b> recapitalized <\/span>Thought<\/b> Logic Consulting<\/b>, an Atlanta, Ga.-based business and technology consulting firm, from <\/span>Renovus<\/b> Capital<\/b> Partners<\/b>. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/span><\/p>\n

OTHERS<\/h3>\n

– <\/span>Dynatrace<\/b> agreed to acquire <\/span>Arize<\/b>, a San Francisco-based AI monitoring and evaluation software company, for $915 million.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

#Code #Metal #lands #million #Pentagon #deal #modernize #military #wargaming<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Preston Fore here. Landing a d… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4554,4557,4555,3622,110,4558,3027,4559,451,859,2757,452,673,4561,4560,1834,1835,889,4562,4556],"class_list":["post-2337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance-news","tag-aerospace-and-defense","tag-and-defense","tag-arms","tag-code","tag-deal","tag-defense-contractors","tag-defense-industry","tag-defense-spending","tag-department-of-defense","tag-lands","tag-metal","tag-military","tag-million","tag-modernize","tag-pentagon","tag-private-equity","tag-term-sheet","tag-venture-capital","tag-wargaming","tag-weapons"],"yoast_head":"\nCode Metal lands $80 million Pentagon deal to modernize military wargaming - Finance News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2337\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"zh_CN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Code Metal lands $80 million Pentagon deal to modernize military wargaming - Finance News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Preston Fore here. Landing a d…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2337\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Finance News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-15T00:02:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Code-Metal-Peter-Morales-e1786646790523.jpg?w=2048\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"\u4f5c\u8005\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"\u9884\u8ba1\u9605\u8bfb\u65f6\u95f4\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 \u5206\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=2337#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=2337\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ed40724a3e5d482ce66781a042c3c31e\"},\"headline\":\"Code Metal lands $80 million Pentagon deal to modernize military wargaming\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-15T00:02:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=2337\"},\"wordCount\":1022,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=2337#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Code-Metal-Peter-Morales-e1786646790523.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Aerospace and defense\",\"and defense\",\"arms\",\"code\",\"Deal\",\"Defense Contractors\",\"Defense Industry\",\"defense spending\",\"Department of Defense\",\"lands\",\"metal\",\"Military\",\"million\",\"modernize\",\"Pentagon\",\"private equity\",\"Term Sheet\",\"Venture Capital\",\"wargaming\",\"weapons\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Finance News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=2337#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=2337\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=2337\",\"name\":\"Code Metal lands $80 million Pentagon deal to modernize military wargaming - Finance News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=2337#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=2337#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Code-Metal-Peter-Morales-e1786646790523.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-15T00:02:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ed40724a3e5d482ce66781a042c3c31e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=2337#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=2337\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=2337#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Code-Metal-Peter-Morales-e1786646790523.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Code-Metal-Peter-Morales-e1786646790523.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=2337#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u9996\u9875\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Code Metal lands $80 million Pentagon deal to modernize military wargaming\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/\",\"name\":\"Finance News\",\"description\":\"Just another Finance News site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ed40724a3e5d482ce66781a042c3c31e\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Code Metal lands $80 million Pentagon deal to modernize military wargaming - Finance News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2337","og_locale":"zh_CN","og_type":"article","og_title":"Code Metal lands $80 million Pentagon deal to modernize military wargaming - Finance News","og_description":"Preston Fore here. Landing a d…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2337","og_site_name":"Finance News","article_published_time":"2026-08-15T00:02:01+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Code-Metal-Peter-Morales-e1786646790523.jpg?w=2048","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"\u4f5c\u8005":"admin","\u9884\u8ba1\u9605\u8bfb\u65f6\u95f4":"5 \u5206"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2337#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2337"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/#\/schema\/person\/ed40724a3e5d482ce66781a042c3c31e"},"headline":"Code Metal lands $80 million Pentagon deal to modernize military wargaming","datePublished":"2026-08-15T00:02:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2337"},"wordCount":1022,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2337#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Code-Metal-Peter-Morales-e1786646790523.jpg","keywords":["Aerospace and defense","and defense","arms","code","Deal","Defense Contractors","Defense Industry","defense spending","Department of Defense","lands","metal","Military","million","modernize","Pentagon","private equity","Term Sheet","Venture Capital","wargaming","weapons"],"articleSection":["Finance News"],"inLanguage":"zh-Hans","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2337#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2337","url":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2337","name":"Code Metal lands $80 million Pentagon deal to modernize military wargaming - Finance News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2337#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2337#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Code-Metal-Peter-Morales-e1786646790523.jpg","datePublished":"2026-08-15T00:02:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/#\/schema\/person\/ed40724a3e5d482ce66781a042c3c31e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2337#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"zh-Hans","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2337"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"zh-Hans","@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2337#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Code-Metal-Peter-Morales-e1786646790523.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Code-Metal-Peter-Morales-e1786646790523.jpg","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2337#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u9996\u9875","item":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Code Metal lands $80 million Pentagon deal to modernize military wargaming"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/","name":"Finance News","description":"Just another Finance News site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"zh-Hans"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/#\/schema\/person\/ed40724a3e5d482ce66781a042c3c31e","name":"admin","url":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}