US drone startup Powerus, which is set to go public by merging with a company backed by Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, aims to bring Ukrainian and other foreign technology to the US to help meet growing Pentagon demand, company executives said.
Powerus, formed a year ago, is due in early October to merge with Nasdaq-listed Aureus Greenway Holdings , a golf course owner and operator in which the Trump brothers hold an indirect stake via investment fund American Ventures. Regulatory filings show the fund is expected to own a 9.9 per cent beneficial ownership stake in the combined company.
The Florida-based company is part of a growing portfolio of drone and military technology companies backed by the brothers. It includes XTEND AI Robotics, which went public in early September after the Israeli drone maker merged with a listed construction company in which American Ventures also owned a stake.
Powerus executives and spokespeople for Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump say the brothers are passive investors in Aureus with no operational role in the drone company. Still, “it never hurts to have their name on something,” said Powerus advisory board member Keith Kellogg, former Trump envoy to Ukraine and retired US Army lieutenant general.
Companies and investors are seeking to capitalise on surging Pentagon and overseas demand for drones after the war in Ukraine highlighted the battlefield importance of autonomous systems.
In interviews with Reuters over recent months, executives said they plan to grow through acquisitions, foreign partnerships and domestic manufacturing. The goal is to make Powerus a US partner that can bring in military technology developed overseas, particularly in Ukraine, and build it in America.
Powerus is in talks with Ukrainian defence technology firms and would like to add capabilities including long-range attack drones.
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