Founder & Managing Partner, Proving Ground Partners. Readiness for drone, robotics, defense tech and AI companies: audit, sale, underwriting, listing.
Washington, DC, USA
Joined June 2014
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Proving Ground Partners opened today in Washington, DC. Advisory for autonomy, robotics, defense tech, aviation and applied AI companies, and the funds behind them, at four decisions a company cannot take twice.
Brandon Torres Declet 🇺🇸 retweeted
SITUATION DETECTED: OpenAI researchers see three possible futures for AI on the corporate org chart: beneath us with every human promoted to manager, beside us as peer colleagues, or between us with AIs sitting above some humans as middle management.
Brandon Torres Declet 🇺🇸 retweeted
"The ultimate goal is for a handful of companies to be responsible for manufacturing all of the different types of drones the military will need, and from Metz’s perspective, the technology evolves so quickly that they should be immediately delivered into the hands of warfighters because having them sit in warehouses awaiting deliveries will leave them quickly outdated."
washingtonexaminer.com/polic…
Brandon Torres Declet 🇺🇸 retweeted
JUST IN: Houston Police Officers' Union encourages residents to use Tesla's expanding Robotaxi service instead of drinking & driving.
Firehawk Defense raised $150M at over $1.4B on 100,000+ artillery motors in 2027 via @generaldynamics for allied buyers. Oklahoma hits low rate mid-2027 and tens of thousands a month late 2027. The year lands late. Proving Ground Partners models the ramp.
@akin_gump tells defense contractors (include drones) to treat sole-source awards from the last 2 years as higher risk, after Himes told NDIA members House Intel could seek documents and testimony. Proving Ground Partners’ read: award history is now a diligence item. Watch this space! Link in comments.
ScoutDI’s 2026 earnout climbs from $240K to $2.4M between $3.5M and $3.8M of revenue, about $7.20 per added dollar. @BeamForAll announced Q4-shipping ScoutDI orders pre-close. Proving Ground Partners’ read: on that curve, cut-off and rev rec are the deal.
At DRON8 Summit at UT Austin on Wed Oct 28. Proving Ground Partners is meeting drone, robotics and defense founders 12 to 30 months from an IPO, sale or first audit, and investors who need the diligence done. DM to book 30 minutes. dron8.us/
$UMAC made a 2025 Upgrade Energy audit a closing condition May 11. It closed Oct 19, 161 days later. Of the ~$52M, $1M was cash, ~$25M stock, up to $26M a cash earnout over $10M revenue. Proving Ground Partners starts with the audit.
Brandon Torres Declet 🇺🇸 retweeted
Excited to announce WARHOUND. techcrunch.com/2026/10/22/be…
BlackSea’s sellers took 12,727,273 $AVEX shares valued at $350M ($27.50 each). AEVEX was $10.31 on Oct 22. The $50M earnout needs a $28.00 VWAP and GARC/CHASER revenue, and AEVEX says no more GARCs were planned. Proving Ground Partners asks for a collar.
Congrats to @UnusualMachines on a $16.9M order from Powerus ($PUSA) for motors, batteries, cameras and VTX, on top of a $5M+ order in April. Repeat orders like this are how a US drone supply chain gets built. Link in comments.
