Autonomous robotics company and defense firm Forterra has opened a new office in Arlington, Virginia. The company, which is headquartered in Maryland, says the new space brings it closer to the Pentagon and key stakeholders on Capitol Hill, while tapping into northern Virginia’s burgeoning software engineering workforce.
Forterra leaders said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday that they’ve outgrown their Clarksburg, Maryland office, and now plan to convert offices there into more vehicle production and testing floor space.
“We’re growing like crazy,” Forterra CEO Josh Araujo told Threat Status at The Washington Times, adding that his employees are “just spending a lot more time in the Pentagon [and on] Capitol Hill.”
The new Arlington office “will be a major hub for us,” Mr. Araujo said. “We’re out daily with the customers, so staying close to the end user is important. But, then so is staying close to the customer that’s buying and procuring and funding.”
The expansion comes as Forterra has secured a fresh round of private investor funding worth more than $230 million. The company’s business valuation was more than $1 billion as of November.
The $1 billion value puts Forterra at the forefront of a new wave of investment in defense startups, making it a so-called “unicorn” company.
Forterra’s Clarksburg office, primarily responsible for hardware integration and manufacturing of the autonomous vehicles, will still be relied on heavily, but the new Arlington office will now focus on software development, business development and allow the company to continue to hire, according to Mr. Araujo.
“We’ve got to make a lot of different customers happy just to make the thing go,” Mr. Araujo said, referring to the company’s relationship with the various U.S. military services.
“So for us, it’s that customer intimacy and trust we build through just being present, being available,” he said.
Since 2021, Forterra has gone from just over 100 employees to now nearly 600. The defense contractor has rapidly expanded its presence, also having offices in Palo Alto, California and Orlando, Florida. Another planned expansion in Boston is expected to be announced soon.
“If we were on the West Coast, it would be a daylong trip to get out here to go have a meeting and a daylong trip to get back,” Mr. Araujo said. “We’re just in and out daily.”
Correction: A previous version of this story and caption incorrectly spelled Forterra due to an editing error.
• John T. Seward can be reached at jseward@washingtontimes.com.
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