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 spearheaded 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 fuel the expansion of Vermeer's partnerships with U.S. military forces, NATO allies, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine, while accelerating the scaling of its optical navigation technology for both defense and commercial markets. The company's impressive growth trajectory is evident in its expansion from 10 to 40 employees within a single year, maintaining active operations in both New York and Kyiv.

At the core of Vermeer's technological offering is 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 enables drones to maintain precise location awareness even when GPS signals are jammed or spoofed—a vulnerability commonly exploited in modern conflicts. Vermeer's technology has already gained significant traction, with over 30 customers including the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, and is actively deployed by Ukrainian forces 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's development has been bolstered by 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, its focus on navigation resilience addresses a critical capability gap in autonomous systems. As geopolitical tensions and cyber-electronic warfare intensify, navigation solutions resistant to jamming and spoofing represent a vital niche within the rapidly evolving drone and autonomous platform sectors.