American-Ukrainian protection expertise startup Vermeer has closed its $10 million Collection A spherical, led by Draper Associates with participation from AeroX Ventures, Boscolo Intervest, Excessive Level Ventures, Rockaway Ventures, and the U.S. Air Power Techstars accelerator. The funding brings Vermeer’s complete Collection A capital to $10 million and can help growth of its optical navigation platform for each protection and business use.
Headquartered in New York with ahead operations in Kyiv, Vermeer develops a Visible Positioning System (VPS) that allows drones and different autonomous platforms to navigate with out GPS. The system makes use of electro-optical or infrared cameras and AI processing on an Nvidia platform to match visible information to 2D or 3D maps, delivering correct positioning even when GPS is jammed or spoofed.
“Constructing superior expertise in a warfare zone is just not simple — but it surely’s the one method to make it actual,” stated Brian Streem, Vermeer CEO. “Our objective isn’t simply to provide drones mass — it’s to provide them precision, intelligence, and objective.”
Vermeer Funding Helps A Twin-Use Know-how Inbuilt Fight
Vermeer’s expertise has already been deployed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) to take care of navigation functionality below digital assault. The VPS system can also be in use by U.S. protection organizations and main contractors together with Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.
“Twin-use tech catalyzes technical progress in each the protection and business sectors,” stated Andy Tang, accomplice at Draper Associates. “One motive we backed Vermeer is the success they’ve achieved in serving to Ukraine strengthen its drone fleet.”
Since becoming a member of the Air Power Techstars accelerator, Vermeer has obtained over $7 million in SBIR and AFWERX awards to develop its optical navigation system. The corporate has grown from 10 to 40 workers prior to now yr, eight of whom are primarily based in Ukraine.
Context: Ukraine’s Increasing Drone Ecosystem
Ukraine has dramatically scaled its drone packages by new procurement plans and home improvement efforts. In March 2025, the Ministry of Protection authorized the “Fowl of Prey” drone for fight use and introduced an bold plan to buy 4.5 million FPV drones. By September, Ukraine had outlined its objective of changing into Europe’s drone manufacturing hub, easing export restrictions and pursuing partnerships throughout the EU.
In that surroundings, applied sciences like Vermeer’s are important. Ukraine faces every day electronic-warfare challenges, and a GPS-independent navigation system permits UAVs to function reliably in contested airspace. Vermeer’s presence in Kyiv permits for speedy iteration and direct suggestions from frontline customers — a uncommon benefit for a startup at this stage.
Outlook: Strengthening Autonomy Throughout Sectors
Vermeer’s Collection A milestone highlights how Ukraine’s war-time innovation is reshaping world drone improvement. The corporate sits on the intersection of combat-tested expertise and business scalability, combining U.S. enterprise help with operational perception from lively battle zones.
For Ukraine and its allies, Vermeer’s VPS enhances the resilience and precision of drone fleets. For the worldwide drone business, it represents a step towards better autonomy in environments the place GPS alerts are unreliable — from city air mobility to logistics and inspection operations.
As Ukraine evolves from a drone shopper to a co-developer of next-generation unmanned programs, Vermeer’s success underscores how collaboration between U.S. and Ukrainian innovators can speed up the broader shift towards GPS-free autonomy.
About Vermeer
Vermeer is a New York-based expertise firm creating vision-based autonomy options for protection and business use. A graduate of the Air Power Accelerator powered by Techstars, Vermeer’s optical navigation system permits drones to function exactly with out GPS. Be taught extra at www.getvermeer.com.
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Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, an expert drone providers market, and a fascinated observer of the rising drone business and the regulatory surroundings for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles targeted on the business drone area and is a global speaker and acknowledged determine within the business. Miriam has a level from the College of Chicago and over 20 years of expertise in excessive tech gross sales and advertising for brand new applied sciences.
For drone business consulting or writing, E-mail Miriam.
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