Kanata defence contractor Defsec raises $2.5M in share offering

Defsec Technologies, a Kanata-based defence and security company, is raising $2.5 million in a registered direct share offering to fund working capital and general corporate operations.

The company agreed June 26 to sell 673,006 common shares at $3.74 per share to a select group of investors. It will also issue unregistered warrants to purchase up to 673,006 common shares at $4.39 per share in a concurrent private placement. The warrants expire five years after issuance, expected to occur June 27.

Defsec provides software, anti-riot equipment, and other technology to police services and the Department of National Defence. The company trades on the Nasdaq in the U.S. and the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada. Founded in 2017 and going public three years later, it rebranded from its original name Kwesst Micro Systems a year ago.

The firm specializes in three main product lines: systems feeding real-time information to soldiers in the field, countermeasures against deadly lasers and space-age weaponry, and high-tech anti-riot munitions. The U.S. Army uses the company's proprietary battlefield laser-detection system, called BLISS, at its Yuma Test Center in Arizona. Defsec also holds a five-year multimillion-dollar contract with the Department of National Defence for software engineering services, and provides specialized software to the Canadian Army through a subcontract with defence contractor Thales Canada. Retired General Rick Hillier, who served as chief of the Canadian defence staff from 2005-08, chairs the firm's strategic planning committee and sits on its board.

Defsec reported revenues of $2.1 million for the quarter ending March 31, up from $1.3 million a year earlier. The firm posted a net loss of $2 million, compared with a loss of $1.5 million in the same period in 2025. Over the past 12 months, the company's stock price has fallen 80 per cent from a high of almost $17 to around $3.