American-Ukrainian startup Vermeer has closed an €8.61M Series A funding round to support its work on navigation technology for drones and aerial vehicles.
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US-Ukrainian defence tech startup Vermeer has announced the completion of a $10M (nearly €8.61M) Series A funding round.
The round was led by Draper Associates and included participation from AeroX Ventures, Boscolo Intervest, High Point Ventures, Rockaway Ventures, and the US Air Force Tech Stars.
Building tools for warfighters in contested environments
Vermeer develops vision-based autonomy systems for military use. The company offers an optical navigation system and is part of the Air Force Accelerator powered by Techstars.
Vermeer’s Visual Positioning System (VPS) provides navigation for drones and other aerial vehicles where GPS is unavailable. The system bypasses satellite navigation limits by functioning when signals are jammed, disrupted, or spoofed.
VPS uses up to four electro-optical or infrared cameras to capture the surroundings and compares the visual data to a database of landmarks and 2D or 3D maps. The system also applies AI through Nvidia chips to identify the location.
Because VPS operates without external signals, it can guide vehicles in areas where traditional navigation fails. The system can be used in military operations as well as civilian aerial applications.
Vermeer CEO, Brian Streem, says, “Building advanced technology in a war zone is not easy — but it’s the only way to make it real. Operating alongside our partners on the front lines has forced us to iterate faster, build smarter, and focus on what actually works in combat.”
“Our goal isn’t just to give drones mass — it’s to give them precision, intelligence, and purpose. We’re proud to have earned the trust of over 30 customers, and with the support of Draper and our other venture partners, we’re ready to scale that mission.”
Vermeer has grown from 10 to 40 employees over the past year, including eight based in Ukraine.
Capital utilisation
Vermeer will use the funds to expand its partnerships with the US military, NATO Allies, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The company will continue developing its optical navigation platform for defence and commercial applications.
Andy Tang, partner at Draper Associates, says, “Dual-use tech catalyses technical progress in both the defence and commercial sectors. And much of this innovation is already being deployed, to great success. One of the reasons we backed Vermeer is the incredible rate of success they’ve achieved, specifically in helping Ukraine strengthen its drone fleet.”
Government support and military partnerships
Vermeer began in the US Air Force Tech Stars accelerator programme and received over $7M in SBIR awards and AFWERX funding to develop its Visual Positioning System (VPS).
The technology is used by the US Army, the US Air Force, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and other defence partners.
Petr Šmíd, General Partner at Rockaway Ventures, says, “Vermeer’s navigation technology is easy to use, resistant to disruption, and scalable. Unlike GPS, Vermeer’s system operates without radio signals and remains functional even when GPS is disrupted or nonexistent. We believe this unique technology will become the standard for drones, robots, and other autonomous platforms, driving a new wave of autonomous systems.”
VPS is also deployed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine to enable drone navigation without GPS, preventing jamming and spoofing by adversaries.
Andy Tang adds, “The Vermeer AI-based visual positioning system uses landmarks, stars, and other cues to help drones position themselves without needing GPS, which makes them more resilient and able to overcome jamming, spoofing, and other forms of technical attack.”
“Their technology is changing the game for drone operations and their location accuracy. And it has innumerable applications outside of defence, including for autonomous vehicles, remote delivery, and more.”
