Innovate Hampton Roads Profiles Radian Forge's Portsmouth Shop

Radian Forge, a Veteran Ventures Capital Fund II portfolio company, was profiled on October 2 by Innovate Hampton Roads in a piece titled "A Ship Can Wait Months for One Metal Part. Radian Forge Wants to Make It in Days." The company's shop operates inside Fairlead on the Elizabeth River in Portsmouth, Virginia, within an hour's drive of four shipyards, the fleet and much of the repair supply chain.

Radian Forge uses wire arc additive manufacturing, in which a robot builds up weld beads into the shape of a part that machinists then finish to specification. It concentrates on parts for the Navy, shipyards and the businesses that support them, especially parts that are hard to source or whose original suppliers no longer exist. The company has delivered parts to a Navy shipyard, a regional water utility and commercial marine customers, is quoting larger structural work for shipbuilders, and has been working toward the Navy's performance specification for copper nickel made with the process. At the time of the interview a valve component for a Navy shipyard, whose original pattern is obsolete and on which a maintenance schedule was waiting, was in final machining.

"Printing a part and getting a Navy technical authority to accept a printed part are two completely different problems," said Jeff Yeager, who leads the company.

The article restates the $2.5 million seed round led by Veteran Ventures Capital and announced in September, with the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation and existing investors participating, and says the funding goes toward more machines, more production staff and material qualification work. Over the next year the company expects more qualified materials, a larger footprint on Lincoln Street and a production cell that can travel to the work.

Radian Forge was named one of three finalists for the Emerging Company Award at 757 TechNite, Innovate Hampton Roads' annual awards night, in September (the award went to Iron Sheepdog on October 29), and was selected for VC in DC's FORGE 2026 cohort of defense technology companies, chosen from more than 275 applicants, which convened in National Landing on October 28.

Sources: Innovate Hampton Roads: A Ship Can Wait Months for One Metal Part. Radian Forge Wants to Make It in Days. — October 2, 2026; Innovate Hampton Roads: Meet the 2026 757 TechNite Finalists — September 24, 2026; Innovate Hampton Roads: 757 TechNite 2026 Celebrates the Innovators Shaping Hampton Roads’ Future — October 29, 2026; VC in DC: The stage is set. Meet the FORGE 2026 cohort. — October 23, 2026; Veteran Ventures Capital: $2.5 Million Seed Round in Radian Forge — September 15, 2026; Radian Forge official website; VC in DC: FORGE 2026 official event listing.