Vermeer Secures $10M to Scale GPS-Free Drone Navigation Tech

Vermeer, a New York- and Kyiv-based American-Ukrainian startup specializing in vision navigation and autonomy technologies for defense applications, has successfully closed a $10 million Series A funding round. The investment was led by Draper Associates and supported by a consortium of co-investors including Los Angeles-based AeroX Ventures, Boscolo Intervest, High Point Ventures, Rockaway Ventures, and the U.S. Air Force Techstars accelerator program. This significant capital infusion will enable Vermeer to expand its partnerships with U.S. military forces, NATO allies, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine while scaling its optical navigation technology for both defense and commercial sectors. The company's impressive growth trajectory is evidenced by its expansion from 10 to 40 employees within a single year, maintaining active operations in both New York and Kyiv despite the challenging wartime environment in Ukraine.

Vermeer's core technology centers around its Visual Positioning System (VPS), which provides a GPS-independent navigation solution critical for drones and other aerial vehicles operating in contested or GPS-denied environments. The system employs multiple electro-optical or infrared cameras to interpret surroundings by comparing live visuals against a database of landmarks and pre-existing maps, enhanced by AI processing via Nvidia chips. This innovative approach allows drones to maintain precise location awareness even when GPS signals are jammed or spoofed—a vulnerability commonly exploited in modern conflicts. The company's technology is already deployed with over 30 customers including the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, with Ukrainian forces actively using it to maintain drone efficacy against adversarial electronic warfare.

CEO Brian Streem, who was featured in Inc. magazine's 30 Under 30 in 2017, emphasized that building advanced technology in a war zone has forced the company to iterate faster and focus on what actually works in combat. The startup credits its early development to the U.S. Air Force's Techstars accelerator and significant non-dilutive Small Business Innovation Research funding through the AFWERX program. While Vermeer's funding round is modest compared to other defense tech startups like Auterion and Mach Industries, its focus on navigation resilience addresses a specific and critical capability gap in autonomous systems. As geopolitical tensions and electronic warfare intensify, navigation solutions resistant to jamming represent a vital niche within the rapidly evolving drone and autonomous platform sectors.