drone-defense
(5)
Perseus Defense
Perseus Defense is a YC S25 aerospace and defense startup building low-cost, man-portable guided micro-missiles to shoot down small drones. Its Harpe interceptor targets Group 1 and Group 2 drones at a claimed cost of under $10,000 per shot - roughly a 20x reduction versus existing systems - closing the cost gap where a $500 drone can threaten multi-million-dollar assets. Founded by ex-NASA aerospace engineer Jason Cornelius and ex-Boeing autonomy lead Steve Messinger, the company is building an affordable, mass-producible 'Iron Dome for drones' for U.S. defense and homeland security customers.
Surtr Defense Systems
Surtr Defense Systems builds ParallaxOS, a hardware-agnostic operating system for drone defense. It ingests data from any radar, RF detector, camera, or acoustic array, fuses it into a single common operating picture, applies AI threat classification, and passes human-authorized engagement recommendations to any effector. Founded in 2026 by two former Shield AI and Anduril autonomy engineers, the company is a Y Combinator Spring 2026 (P26) startup that raised roughly $4.8M in seed funding and field-tested its system with Ukraine's Brave1 defense cluster.
Allen Control Systems
Allen Control Systems (ACS) is an Austin-based defense technology company building Bullfrog, an AI-powered autonomous robotic weapon station designed to detect, track and shoot down hostile drones. Founded in 2022 by three engineer-entrepreneurs, ACS uses passive machine vision and custom fire-control software to turn standard machine guns into precision counter-drone turrets, aiming to cut the cost-per-kill of a drone from expensive missiles down to a few dollars of ammunition. The company raised a $200M Series B in 2026 at a $2.2B valuation to scale manufacturing for the U.S. military and allied forces.
ZeroMark, Inc.
ZeroMark is a New York-based defense technology company building an AI targeting layer that turns ordinary infantry weapons into precision counter-drone systems. Its flagship Apex is a rifle-mounted, software-defined fire control system that uses electro-optical cameras, LiDAR and machine-vision ballistics to physically adjust a soldier's aim in real time, letting a dismounted operator hit small, fast-moving drones without specialist training. Founded in 2022 by former U.S. Navy servicemember and ex-MongoDB executive Joel Anderson, ZeroMark has raised roughly $7M in seed funding led by Ground Up Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz, followed by a 2025 strategic round, and has demonstrated its system in a U.S. Marine Corps live-fire exercise.
Aurelius Systems
Aurelius Systems is a San Francisco defense-technology startup building Archimedes, an autonomous, high-powered laser turret that detects, tracks and neutralizes drones in seconds for roughly the cost of electricity. Founded in 2024 by photonics veterans Michael LaFramboise and John Marmaduke, the company fuses commercial off-the-shelf hardware, advanced optics and AI-guided targeting into a compact, low-cost counter-UAS platform aimed at protecting soldiers and critical infrastructure from cheap, swarming aerial threats.