Nathan Nwachuku is a young Nigerian entrepreneur best known as the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Terra Industries, a rapidly growing African defense technology company.
Early Startup Journey
Nathan co-founded Terra Industries (originally called Terrahaptix) in 2024 with Maxwell Maduka, when both were in their early 20s. The company was built to address a major security challenge across Africa, protecting critical infrastructure and borders using advanced autonomous systems.
Leadership and Vision
As CEO, Nathan leads Terra’s mission to develop autonomous defense and security technology tailored specifically for African environments, such as long-range drones, unmanned ground vehicles, and intelligent surveillance systems. The company’s platforms operate under its own software, ArtemisOS, which enables real-time threat detection and coordinated responses across land, sea, and air.
He has publicly stated that Africa’s rapid industrialisation will be undermined if insecurity isn’t addressed, and that Terra’s purpose is to give African nations the technological capability to protect their infrastructure and sovereignty.
Startup Success and Funding
Under Nathan’s leadership, Terra Industries has attracted significant international investment. In early 2026, the company raised more than $11.7 million in seed funding from leading venture capital firms, including 8VC (founded by the Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale), Valor Equity Partners, Lux Capital and others. This funding is aimed at scaling manufacturing and deploying Terra’s autonomous systems across Africa.
Terra’s technology is already being used to secure key infrastructure in several African countries, such as power plants and mining sites, and a large manufacturing facility in Abuja, Nigeria, produces the company’s hardware locally.
Early Accomplishments
Before Terra, Nathan built an educational technology platform that reached hundreds of thousands of users worldwide. He also represented Nigeria at the Physics Olympiad, highlighting his strong academic foundation and passion for science and technology.
