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He has won international awards for his work, including the Space Generation Advisory Council's \"Move an Asteroid\" award in 2015. As CEO of HEO Robotics, Will's highlights include taking the world's second commercial in-orbit inspection photo of a spacecraft. Will loves spending time with family and reading.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "http://www.linkedin.com/in/william-crowe-space", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/5c8a2eb050cc16e676e0dacd46e9593858f0d6c9.jpg" }, { "user_id": 420719, "full_name": "Hiranya Jayakody", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Co-founder and CTO - HEO Robotics\n\nHiranya Jayakody is the CTO and co-founder of HEO Robotics. He has a PhD in mechatronics engineering from UNSW Sydney and a bachelor's degree in electronics engineering from University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. In addition to HEO Robotics, he worked as a researcher at UNSW Sydney focusing on computer vision and machine learning for agriculture as well as robust control of aerial vehicles and space robots.\n", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/hiranya-jayakody/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/614230dc5d95929cf6311a472320f21b538b2c8a.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "HEO Robotics' Holmes Imager successfully launched - SpaceWatch.Global", "url": "https://spacewatch.global/2023/06/heo-robotics-holmes-imager-successfully-launched/", "date": "Jun 14, 2023" }, { "title": "New Image Is Our First Look at SpaceX's 'Mini' Starlink in Orbit", "url": "https://gizmodo.com.au/2023/03/new-image-is-our-first-look-at-spacexs-mini-starlink-in-orbit/", "date": "Mar 09, 2023" }, { "title": "China's falling Long March 5B rocket stage spotted from space (photos) | Space", "url": "https://www.space.com/china-falling-long-march-5b-rocket-satellite-photo", "date": "Nov 03, 2022" } ], "launches": [] }, { "id": 25306, "name": "Capuchin", "slug": "capuchin", "former_names": [ "WorldQL" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/ea9d3b72b1fa93a8d4352fa71bae133957dcb7a7.png", "website": "https://capuchin.ai/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA; Remote", "long_description": "", "one_liner": "Search and automation for engineer-to-order companies", "team_size": 5, "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B", "launched_at": 1648654841, "tags": [ "Manufacturing", "Defense", "Search", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2022", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "B2B" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Fully Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/capuchin", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2022/capuchin.json", "year_founded": 2021, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/ea9d3b72b1fa93a8d4352fa71bae133957dcb7a7.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Jared Friedman", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/jared-friedman" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 859638, "full_name": "Jackson Roberts", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Software engineer. My interests include distributed systems (both computer and IRL), novel business models, and discovering new problems. CU Boulder '21.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackson-roberts/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/jacksondotsh", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/80066dd0452d0cffbba91d2412900a4241ea8303.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 29277, "name": "Basalt", "slug": "basalt", "former_names": [ "Basalt Tech" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/bdc6db574181bc5f564f9fcdee3e3a8f66a68b75.png", "website": "https://basalt.space/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Basalt is building Constellations as a Service, self-flying satellite constellations tailored for private enterprise and the government without any prior aerospace experience needed! Powered by our Diamond AI, Basalt provides a seamless experience, enabling users to fly and stream data and images from their own dedicated satellite constellation onto their phones and laptops. \r\n\r\nBasalt received its seed investment as part of the Y Combinator W24 batch, and has since launched Spirit-EEL, the world's first AI-controlled satellite constellation.", "one_liner": "Constellations as a Service", "team_size": 10, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Aviation and Space", "launched_at": 1706583323, "tags": [ "Satellites", "Aerospace", "Automation", "Defense", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Aviation and Space" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/basalt", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2024/basalt.json", "year_founded": 2023, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/basaltspace", "x_url": "https://x.com/basaltspace", "fb_url": "https://www.instagram.com/basaltspace/", "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/bdc6db574181bc5f564f9fcdee3e3a8f66a68b75.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/9482e25ecc0eac97d7c8dc02f03c47fe3739d9d0.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Tyler Bosmeny", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/tyler-bosmeny" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1408579, "full_name": "Maximillian Bhatti", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "CEO & Co-Founder of Basalt // I was working at Caltech’s fusion lab when I was hired out of high school to work at MIT AeroAstro on their CubeSat mission.\n\nSince then, I’ve spent stints at The Aerospace Corporation and SpaceX working on distributed space systems and the American moon landing. Most recently, I dropped out to build Basalt. My hobbies include hiking and buying infinite whiteboards.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/maximillian-bhatti/", "x_url": "https://x.com/basaltceo", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/fa5c88bf380ea1ee2c488803a898e62d87b310be.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "Basalt Space and Bay Area Rivals Aim to End Starlink's Constellation Monopoly", "url": "https://spacedaily.com/sd-n-basalt-space-and-bay-area-rivals-aim-to-end-starlinks-constellation-monopoly/", "date": "May 05, 2026" }, { "title": "Welcome to the Great American Satellite Age | WIRED", "url": "https://www.wired.com/story/welcome-to-the-great-american-satellite-age/", "date": "May 04, 2026" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 79293, "title": "Basalt Tech - Windows for Spacecraft", "tagline": "Building the world’s first satellite operating system.", "body": "\n\n# **Windows for Spacecraft: Basalt Dispatch**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=79293&key=user_uploads/1408579/b881339f-9903-4801-ada1-3aad37a29dd9)\n\n_Fig 1. - Dispatch simulation engine based on open source NASA code. The graphics have room for improvement!_\n\n**Dispatch** is the first satellite OS. It provides a common software infrastructure to allows fleets of dissimilar satellites to work together:\n\n* **Tasking**: Image geographic areas in visible, infrared, or radar.\n* **Radio and Telecom:** Manage in-orbit networks and signals intelligence collection.\n* **Orbital Security**: Monitor and inspect other space assets.\n\nNew or external software modules can also easily be integrated, rather than being rewritten for each individual satellite. \n\nThere are over 65,000 satellites licensed to be launched by 2030. That’s over $100B of assets whose value comes from the bytes of data they send down. Right now, that data pipeline includes email, whiteboards, and Excel.\n\n**Dispatch is here to change that, and bring autonomy into orbit, for every mission.**\n\n### **Background**\n\nFlight operations still rely on manual processes and highly custom software. While this is acceptable for single, high-value missions, the need to manage large, flexible satellite fleets challenges that status quo.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=79293&key=user_uploads/1408579/d4de8161-592c-4be8-93fa-852119b3f0da)\n\n_Fig 2 - ESA Visualization of active and defunct satellites around Earth._\n\nThis type of modular software infrastructure has been implemented in-house before, usually on specific hardware. (Think individual custom OS’s before Windows.)\n\nRight now, there is no solution for space companies or government agencies other than to take on massive in-house development, or scale up their operations staff. This is the story we’ve heard over and over talking to flight directors and CEOs.\n\n**The innovation Dispatch brings is its universality - Dispatch allows this functionality to be brought to any space asset out-of-the-box.**\n\n### **Recent Progress**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=79293&key=user_uploads/1408579/3e274d18-5163-4a31-aaff-cd4862d8b753)\n\n_Fig 3 - Alex and Max at the National University of Singapore. We are beginning an effort to revive one of their satellites with our software._\n\nOne month ago we wrote our first line of code. Today, after 2 weeks of travel, we have kicked off collaborations with some of the leading space systems institutions around the globe.\n\n* **Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States**\n * Industry presence in MIT AeroAstro’s Space Systems class, which trains the next generation of space engineers.\n * Integration of MIT flight operations applications into OS.\n * Ongoing collaboration with STAR Lab missions.\n* **University of Toronto, Canada**\n * Project to revive HERON MkII on-orbit.\n * Collaboration on software stacks for HERON and FINCH missions.\n* **National University of Singapore, Singapore**\n * Project to revive Galassia-2 on-orbit.\n * Operations and teaching software for STAR Centre missions and classes.\n* **Aarhus University, Denmark**\n * Project to revive DISCO-1 on-orbit.\n * Collaboration on operations software integrations for DISCO-2 and 3 missions.\n\nWe have a line of university space programs around the world waiting to talk to us, but had to pause for fundraising in San Francisco.\n\n**Just a handful of academic space programs function as the source of almost all engineering talent in the space industry.** These collaborations are invaluable for our journey towards product-market fit, and provide a platform to gain flight heritage for Basalt.\n\n### **About Us**\n\nIn 2020, [Alex](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-choi/) hired a 17-year old [Max](https://linkedin.com/in/maximillian-bhatti-1a9806266) to fix broken satellite radios in the back shed of a Los Angeles dentistry.\n\nOver the next few months, the duo would assemble a crack team of engineers in LA and Cambridge to bring MIT’s CubeSat program back to life. Six months later, the completed satellite was being integrated into the rocket for launch.\n\nWe have been close friends ever since, and have worked in research, commercial, and government space.\n\n### **Asks**\n\nCheck out our [website](https://basalt.space/)!\n\nInterested in how we can help streamline your mission? Set up a [meeting](https://basalt.space/contact).\n\nIf you’re in the govt. or commercial space industry, tell us what you’d like to see!\n\n* Reach out to: [founders@basalt.space](mailto:founders@basalt.space)\n* Phone number: (415) 385-7136", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Kcv-basalt-tech-windows-for-spacecraft", "votes": 15, "created_at": "2024-03-12T13:30:27.452Z" } ] }, { "id": 29589, "name": "Theseus", "slug": "theseus", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/05b004a38c0a5df5a4e151b258151cd9a38f08c8.png", "website": "https://theseus.us", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Theseus builds visual navigation software for GPS-denied drone operations. Using onboard cameras, inertial sensors, and satellite reference imagery, our system computes position fixes entirely passively. The system is entirely self contained, can't be jammed and has no RF signature.", "one_liner": "GPS Denied Navigation for Drones", "team_size": 7, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Drones", "launched_at": 1725406335, "tags": [ "Robotics", "Drones", "Defense" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Drones" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/theseus", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2024/theseus.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/theseustech/", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/05b004a38c0a5df5a4e151b258151cd9a38f08c8.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Aaron Epstein", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/aaron-epstein" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1290514, "full_name": "Ian Laffey", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "GPS-denied nav for drones", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/ian-laffey-943200247", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/ilaffey2", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/0dea34f6fa9fe3e815c86e9a875ee467ffc01ab0.jpg" }, { "user_id": 917795, "full_name": "Sacha Lévy", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Sacha Lévy is Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Theseus Technology Corporation, where he develops visual navigation systems that enable drones to operate autonomously without GPS.\n\nBefore founding Theseus, he was a PhD student in Computer Science at Yale University, where his research applied large language models to biological data and was published in top machine learning conferences. He holds a B.Eng. in Computer Engineering from McGill University.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/sacha-levy", "x_url": "https://x.com/sachalevy3", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/d81061c1de4f0c0f74d5e91ca8625a9b5c3d1446.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 92386, "title": "Lead Robotics Software Engineer, Localization", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/theseus/jobs/yUlD33Z-lead-robotics-software-engineer-localization", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US / Remote (US)", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Robotics", "salary_range": "$200K - $300K", "equity_range": "0.10% - 0.50%", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "C++", "Python", "Linux" ] }, { "id": 92621, "title": "Forward Deployed Software Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/theseus/jobs/NYFHBhe-forward-deployed-software-engineer", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "$80K - $120K", "equity_range": "0.10% - 0.50%", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "C++", "Python" ] } ], "news": [ { "title": "Defense tech Theseus landed Y Combinator, the US Special Forces, and $4.3M from a tweet | TechCrunch", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/17/defense-tech-theseus-landed-y-combinator-the-us-special-forces-and-4-3m-from-a-tweet/", "date": "Apr 17, 2025" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 83768, "title": "Theseus: GPS Denied Navigation for Drones", "tagline": "Our Visual Navigation System is a replacement for GPS that works with any drone.", "body": "![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83768&key=user_uploads/1290514/a1856391-04dc-473d-92dd-9ad6c8a8cb95)\n\nSix months ago we did a hackathon, this month we sold to SOCOM. Our Visual Navigation System (VNS) uses cameras, an inertial measurement unit, and pre-loaded satellite imagery to determine it’s position and send a fake GPS signal to any drone. Integrations typically take <30min.\n\n### How It Started\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83768&key=user_uploads/1290514/3f680d0f-91e3-4f9e-bf5f-212a076df8fa)\n\nIn February, [Carl](https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlscho) was a Senior at Stanford, [Sacha](https://linkedin.com/in/sacha-levy) was a PhD student at Yale, and [Ian](https://linkedin.com/in/ian-laffey-943200247) was working with a British celebrity. After our post went viral, we spent weeks talking with troops on the ground, drone manufacturers, and DoD.\n\nWe learned that:\n\n\\- The front lines of Ukraine are 100% GPS-denied\n\n\\- Cheap, DIY drones are extremely effective but typically rely on GPS\n\n\\- Existing GPS alternatives are extremely heavy and extremely expensive\n\nWe set out to create a low-cost, low-weight replacement for GPS that works with any drone.\n\n### How It’s Going\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83768&key=user_uploads/1290514/edd612ed-a0d4-421d-afe4-36931183b93f)\n\nOur first customer in the Special Forces has enabled us to push our VNS to its limits, and the results have been impressive. Here are a few excerpts from a memorandum written by the Captain we work with:\n\n_“Having tested the Theseus’ VizNav system for a week, I am convinced that their technology presents the best solution for a current, and ever-expanding urgent operational need.”_\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83768&key=user_uploads/1290514/edd4eb3e-a568-4519-84a8-de2020556437)\n\n_“As a company, Theseus has shown a willingness to seek the ground truth from the operator and make improvements based on these recommendations immediately. The progress they have made with limited funding gives me incredible confidence that they act quicker and more efficiently than any other vendors we have worked with.”_\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83768&key=user_uploads/1290514/7fe82322-4001-49c7-b9ab-255c2a9174d6)\n\nDue to the sensitive nature of our product, technical details and customer-specific information in this post will be limited. We are happy to discuss results in more detail privately.\n\n### Going Forward\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83768&key=user_uploads/1290514/5acb4bc0-1658-47f2-83ef-38d0dd6d3601)\n\nAmerica is way behind. The current demand for drones in Ukraine is 1-2 million yearly. Every country in the world sees this and is in the process of building out its arsenal. Our product affordably enables an entirely new capability set for every one of these platforms.\n\nWe have sold units to multiple customers, have six-figure LOIs from large drone manufacturers, integrations scheduled, and eight figures in funding for our VNS requested by the DoD for FY25.\n\nThe West needs to build millions of drones, and all of those drones need Theseus.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83768&key=user_uploads/1290514/3f997243-9cf5-4868-9a58-fda72313a613)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Ln6-theseus-gps-denied-navigation-for-drones", "votes": 57, "created_at": "2024-09-04T22:35:57.651Z" } ] }, { "id": 29814, "name": "Vendra", "slug": "vendra", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/929ad75b7088b9721f87d1e0e30daae50d49198f.png", "website": "https://vendra.io/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Vendra makes it faster and easier to get custom parts manufactured in America. \r\n\r\nSubmit one RFQ and Vendra turns your technical requirements into custom manufactured parts - routing work through qualified US suppliers, gathering competitive quotes, and managing production through delivery.\r\n\r\nWe're ITAR registered and manufacture parts for American aerospace and defense leaders. Customers include Anduril, Mach Industries, Relativity Space, Castelion, and Planet Labs.\r\n\r\nSubmit an RFQ at www.vendra.io to get started today!", "one_liner": "Custom Parts, Manufactured in America 🇺🇸", "team_size": 10, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Manufacturing and Robotics", "launched_at": 1724084407, "tags": [ "Hardware", "Manufacturing", "Supply Chain", "Aerospace", "Defense" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Manufacturing and Robotics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/vendra", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2024/vendra.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/vendra-hq/", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/vendra", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/929ad75b7088b9721f87d1e0e30daae50d49198f.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/4494b730c0e5479cf91e29459b50918793f50ddd.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "David Lieb", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/david-lieb" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 914508, "full_name": "Shan Mohta", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "CEO of Vendra. I'll help you get parts manufactured in America. I also built cool hardware at Skydio, Apple, & Microsoft.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanmohta/", "x_url": "https://x.com/shanmohta", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/ada4961bf89e49443bf458e132e7d04191be2aa5.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2050663, "full_name": "Anish Bhardwaj", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "CTO of Vendra. I build software.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/anish-b-00109695/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/939f8fa06c02f01535001b4aa0cb45b2d26837b3.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 96225, "title": "Mechanical Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/vendra/jobs/wdHYZmT-mechanical-engineer", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Mechanical", "salary_range": "$100K - $120K", "equity_range": "0.05% - 0.20%", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 110597, "title": "Supply Chain Manager", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/vendra/jobs/TNILqFi-supply-chain-manager", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$80K - $140K", "equity_range": "0.05% - 0.15%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 111490, "title": "Cloud Infrastructure & Security Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/vendra/jobs/3z2bFVm-cloud-infrastructure-security-engineer", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "$130K - $150K", "equity_range": "0.05% - 0.20%", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 111491, "title": "Full Stack Engineer ", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/vendra/jobs/pi7IbS4-full-stack-engineer", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "$100K - $140K", "equity_range": "0.05% - 0.25%", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] } ], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 88957, "title": "Vendra - Custom Parts, Manufactured in America 🇺🇸", "tagline": "Vendra brings you fast quotes, rapid production, and direct access to US manufacturers ready to build your parts.", "body": "Hi YC, we’re [Anish](https://www.linkedin.com/in/anish-bhardwaj-00109695/) and [Shan](https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanmohta/) from Vendra!\n\n### **TL;DR**\n\n**Vendra is the best way to manufacture custom parts in the US, beating legacy platforms like Xometry and Protolabs at their own game.**\n\n[**Submit an RFQ today**](https://vendra-marketplace.io/) **to get fast quotes, short lead times, and experience the difference yourself. 🚀**\n\n\n\n# **THE PROBLEM**\n\nManufacturing is coming back to America, but getting your parts made is still a frustrating process. Existing platforms (like Xometry and Protolabs) hide suppliers from you, mark up your parts, and give you minimal control and flexibility.\n\nAlternately, you do a bunch of manual outreach to find suppliers, check if they have production capacity, see if they have the right equipment, can provide a quote quickly, can meet your tolerances and finish, follow-up a bunch of times, etc… Whichever option you use today - it sucks.\n\n# **THE SOLUTION**\n\nJust submit ONE RFQ on Vendra - **_that’s literally it._**\n\nWe match your parts to US manufacturers who meet your exact specs and automate all the manual sourcing steps. You receive multiple competitive quotes and lead times, collaborate directly with suppliers on design and manufacturing details, and choose exactly who builds your parts.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=88957&key=user_uploads/914508/a65ec6d6-69cd-4490-a8f9-8089c0a00ef4)\n\nWe’re the **_only platform_** optimized for real-time production capacity. Need parts machined on a 5-axis CNC or printed on a large-format SLS printer? We’ll connect you exclusively with suppliers who have that exact equipment available immediately - **_so you get fast quotes and even faster production._**\n\nWe’re already trusted by Apple, Skydio, and leading aerospace and hard-tech startups. **_Our automation and capacity optimization have saved them up to 40% on part cost and cut lead times in half_** compared to legacy platforms.\n\n# **THE ASK**\n\n* Need parts made? [Submit an RFQ!](https://vendra-marketplace.io/)\n* Know someone who needs parts made? Send them this post or tell them to [submit an RFQ!](https://vendra-marketplace.io/)\n* Follow us on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/vendra-hq/) and [X!](https://x.com/vendraHQ) Oh, and [SUBMIT AN RFQ!](https://vendra-marketplace.io/)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=88957&key=user_uploads/914508/6c2e372e-651b-40e6-930d-96193dfb5e26)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/N8n-vendra-custom-parts-manufactured-in-america", "votes": 284, "created_at": "2025-03-25T16:40:06.168Z" }, { "id": 83256, "title": "Vendra - AI vendor and project management for hardware teams", "tagline": "We use AI to help hardware teams manage projects, files, and more with their vendors and suppliers - all with no change to their existing workflows", "body": "### TL;DR\n\n* Hardware engineers **_should_** spend their time building cool products, but they **_actually_** spend their time dealing with vendors and doing non-engineering work (digging through emails, searching for files, updating spreadsheets, etc.)\n* Traditional project management solutions don’t really work in hardware, and vendor communications inevitably revert to emails/text messages/WeChat/etc.\n* Vendra uses AI to understand these vendor communications, giving hardware teams modern project management and instant information lookup with almost no change to their existing workflow\n* We offer solutions to hardware teams at all stages - [book a demo today!](https://calendly.com/vendra-shan/30-minute-vendra-chat)\n\n### The Team\n\nWe’re [Shan](https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanmohta/) and [Anish](https://www.linkedin.com/in/anish-b-00109695/)! We’ve known each other since childhood when our parents moved from India to the same apartment complex in Santa Clara. Between us, we’ve built a lot of cool hardware (cameras for autonomous drones, AR/MR headsets) and cool software (ML for satellites, AI for the shipping industry).\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83256&key=user_uploads/914508/f65f0c3b-ceef-4c41-b76f-0ded74c39615)\n\n### The Problem\n\nAs a former hardware engineer, Shan experienced the challenges of managing complex projects across a network of vendors, suppliers, and manufacturers. He saw hardware teams struggle to use traditional project management solutions with vendors because of the unstructured nature of projects and communications, security and access issues, and difficulties in the adoption of new processes. The workflow inevitably defaulted to emails, text messages, WeChat, etc., often leading to misplacement of crucial information.\n\nA 2021 report revealed that 70% of engineers still use email for external collaboration, struggling to track critical information across teams. 94% of engineers want faster access to data, and 29% often work with outdated information, leading to costly delays, reworks, and longer time to market.\n\nWe’re building Vendra to change that.\n\n### The Solution\n\n**Vendra uses AI to bring a smart project management suite and file repository to hardware teams working with vendors and suppliers - all with no change to existing workflows.**\n\nSimply connect Vendra to your email/WeChat/WhatsApp/Slack (or cc it to your conversations and threads):\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83256&key=user_uploads/914508/0497419e-34ee-4f22-8f08-e15331533c4c)\n\nVendra automatically contextualizes your emails/messages/files and generates key takeaways like project and conversation summaries, open items, blockers, tasks, etc. It also creates a smart file directory so you never have to go digging through emails or attachments ever again.\n\nEasily access all this information from anywhere through our SlackBot, GPT-like chat interface, or web-based dashboard:\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83256&key=user_uploads/914508/ad310c5b-4582-4e07-9e43-1bbaf6691b37)\n\nYou can ask Vendra AI things like\n\n* ‘Show me all the quotes and lead times we got from vendors for the upper bracket machining in the past month’\n* ‘What are all the open items for the enclosure injection molding tooling?’\n* ‘Pull up the RF module datasheet the supplier sent me last week’\n* And so much more!\n\nFor teams looking for 2-way external collaboration, we also offer VendraPM - a secure end-to-end platform to onboard your vendors and work together across projects and tasks. Features like secure file sharing, document revision control, and AI-enabled language translation make external work easier than ever:\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83256&key=user_uploads/914508/850d8b2a-133f-492b-a346-3f441932ab20)\n\n### The Ask\n\n* If you work in hardware, [book a demo today!](https://calendly.com/vendra-shan/30-minute-vendra-chat)\n* We also love warm intros to folks in hardware - if you know anyone working in (or around) hardware, we’d love to chat with them to understand their workflow and see how we can help!\n* Follow us on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/vendra-hq/) and [X!](https://x.com/vendraHQ)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Leq-vendra-ai-vendor-and-project-management-for-hardware-teams", "votes": 1024, "created_at": "2024-08-23T15:30:21.401Z" } ] }, { "id": 30055, "name": "RiskCube", "slug": "riskcube", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/93b1b4fbe4b8807a5770f0fad5c76f3b8685dee9.png", "website": "https://riskcube.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "RiskCube is building the first AI-native reinsurer for emerging risks.\r\n\r\nMission: Building products & services focused on lowering the protection gap for the innovation economy on a national and global scale. \r\n\r\nToday, we operate an insurance brokerage focused on startups in AI, robotics, space, and defense. Through the brokerage, we see firsthand where traditional insurance products fail, from AI liability and autonomous systems to defense technology and new space risks.\r\n\r\nWe are now building proprietary risk models that can price risks even when little historical claims data exists. Our approach uses stochastic simulation, then applies traditional, explainable models to make the output transparent to underwriters and regulators.\r\n\r\nThis allows us to create new insurance and reinsurance products for emerging industries much faster than traditional carriers.\r\n\r\nThe U.S. insurance market still relies heavily on foreign reinsurance capacity.\r\nOur goal is to build new reinsurance capacity on American soil for the industries defining the next generation of the U.S. economy, while reducing America's dependence on foreign reinsurance capacity.\r\n", "one_liner": "The new American reinsurance company.", "team_size": 3, "industry": "Fintech", "subindustry": "Fintech -> Insurance", "launched_at": 1731782052, "tags": [ "Fintech", "Insurance", "Defense", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Fall 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Fintech", "Insurance" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/riskcube", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/fall-2024/riskcube.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/riskcube", "x_url": "https://x.com/riskcube_ai?s=11", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/93b1b4fbe4b8807a5770f0fad5c76f3b8685dee9.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Nicolas Dessaigne", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/nicolas-dessaigne" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1675952, "full_name": "Andrei Craciunescu", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Andrei, Founder & CEO. Previously in Risk & Analytics at WTW (Willis Towers Watson) & MunichRE. He holds an M.Sc. in Mathematics from LMU Munich and conducted PhD-level research in financial mathematics at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). Licensed insurance broker. Based in San Francisco. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrei-craciunescu/", "x_url": "https://x.com/andreicscu", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/8aef2306e2a2081a9fa3f32aac98c85b7259aefc.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 105788, "title": "RiskCube - AI insurance brokerage for startups", "tagline": "Top-rated insurance to close enterprise deals & gov contracts for AI, Space & Defense startups", "body": "Hey everyone[ 👋](https://emojipedia.org/waving-hand)\n\nI’m[ ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeilani)[Andrei](https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrei-craciunescu/) - founder of[ ](https://www.brickwiseai.com/)[RiskCube](https://riskcube.com)\n\n# **TL;DR**\n\n**When startups sell to enterprise customers — especially regulated businesses — insurance is often required before the deal can close. Procurement teams ask for proof of top-rated insurance before they sign. Traditional broker take weeks, which can slow down or kill the deal.**\n\n# **RiskCube helps founders get covered fast, with proof of coverage ready within 24 hours.**\n\n[RiskCube Introduction](https://youtu.be/eW4smKBySzo)\n\n**Why This Problem Exists**\n\nI built RiskCube after watching this happen repeatedly at WTW, one of the world's largest insurance brokers. When a startup tries to get top-rated insurance for something new — AI, data centers in space, defense tech, or space in general — most insurers either say no, take too long, or add exclusions.\n\nWhy?\n\n* Little claims history for brand-new technology risks\n* Insurers don't understand the product, so they exclude everything unfamiliar\n* Big traditional insurance provider with expertise are built for big companies, not a startup closing its first Fortune 500 deal\n\nThe result: the wrong coverage, delayed deals, or lost deals entirely.\n\n**How It Works**\n\n1. **Tell us about your business** — a short form so we understand your company, customers, contracts, and risk profile.\n2. **We search the market** — our AI reviews policies from 40+ rated insurers into a clear side-by-side comparison, and a licensed agent with deep risk expertise checks the coverage before you buy.\n3. **Get your COI and close the deal** — choose your coverage, receive your Certificate of Insurance, and send proof to your customer or procurement team.\n\n**Real Results**\n\nOne of our first YC customers cut insurance costs by 60%, got higher coverage limits than before, and became enterprise-ready in 4 hours.\n\n**About the founder**\n\nI'm Andrei, Founder & CEO. Previously in Risk & Analytics at WTW (Willis Towers Watson). Master in Mathematics from LMU Munich and PhD-level research in financial mathematics at TU Munich. Licensed insurance broker. Based in San Francisco.\n\nInvestors — want the same service for your portfolio companies? Reach out directly.", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/RWG-riskcube-ai-insurance-brokerage-for-startups", "votes": 3, "created_at": "2026-07-14T21:12:20.809Z" } ] }, { "id": 30095, "name": "Consus", "slug": "consus", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/bbe9d08b52107f4ba06be791e9808aa96113cd5f.png", "website": "https://www.consus.io", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA; Remote", "long_description": "Consus is an API that routes all AI requests to secure and compliant infrastructure. Aerospace and defense companies use the API to access the latest models without worrying about paperwork or infrastructure engineering. Consus manages the compliance and backend work so you can plug AI into an application and get to work. ", "one_liner": "The fastest and cheapest way to use AI with ITAR or CUI data. ", "team_size": 1, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Aviation and Space", "launched_at": 1732222348, "tags": [ "Developer Tools", "Aerospace", "Defense", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Fall 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Aviation and Space" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Fully Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/consus", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/fall-2024/consus.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/consusindustries", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/bbe9d08b52107f4ba06be791e9808aa96113cd5f.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 274840, "full_name": "Eric Magliarditi", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Let's transform government requirements. \n\nI spent most of my career launching government satellites at SpaceX. Before that, I wrote software to analyze satellite constellations and built computer vision models at MIT.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericmagliarditi/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/434db2928d9e2253ad3a24e8d49dd49c8e60916f.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 85782, "title": "Consus - The Github for Government Documents", "tagline": "Stop pulling your hair out when working with government specs and requirements", "body": "**TLDR:**\n\nConsus eliminates the chaos of government documents. We automatically verify active revisions, alert you to updates, and extract relevant requirements from complex documents. Help your team win more contracts and execute faster with Consus.\n\n\n\n**The Problem**\n\nGovernment requirements slow companies down, particularly in aerospace & defense. When handed stacks of government requirements, program managers are expected to figure it out - with no guidance. Currently, they:\n\n   ❌ Waste hours searching for the correct document version (often government counterparts don’t know)\n\n   ❌ Sort through thousands of pages to find relevant information or requirements\n\n   ❌ Avoid the headache by offloading to busy engineering teams\n\n   ❌ Cross their fingers that they didn’t miss any requirements that will hurt the team in the future\n\n**The Solution**\n\nConsus transforms document compliance from a burden to a competitive advantage:\n\n   ✅ Instant access to verified, active documents\n\n   ✅ Automatic alerts for document updates affecting your projects\n\n   ✅ AI-powered insights that surface relevant requirements in minutes\n\n   ✅ One-click requirement extraction \n\nWe work directly with government organizations to identify active document revisions. Our extraction tools get you the information you care about, and you will never have to guess the source of a requirement. \n\nIf you are struggling to find and understand government documents, let’s [chat](https://calendly.com/eric-consusindustries/30min)!\\\n\\\n**The “Team” 🚀**\n\nI spent the bulk of my career at SpaceX where I launched critical national security missions. Government requirements are important, but they need to be dramatically changed in form & distribution to unlock critical capabilities. If you resonate with the pain, let me know!\n\n_Standing under a big rocket 🙂_\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=85782&key=user_uploads/274840/0f7a315b-2352-43b4-b4de-001299104a93)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/MJa-consus-the-github-for-government-documents", "votes": 44, "created_at": "2024-11-22T01:25:36.584Z" } ] }, { "id": 30210, "name": "Conntour", "slug": "conntour", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/c972b0925a72b8923c709c1b48733059aafb73d3.png", "website": "https://www.conntour.com/", "all_locations": "Tel Aviv-Yafo, Tel Aviv District, Israel", "long_description": "Conntour enables government agencies to query their video - from security cameras, body cams, and drones.\r\n\r\nUsers can search past footage (“Find a man with tattoos on his left arm”), configure real-time alerts (“Notify me if someone climbs over the wall”), and extract data (“How many pickup trucks entered yesterday?”).\r\n\r\nUnlike traditional video analytics solutions, which are limited to fixed parameters (like a weapon, bag, or car color), Conntour supports an unlimited range of highly specific scenarios described in plain language. This enables a single human to monitor thousands of cameras, or find a specific moment in minutes instead of days.\r\n\r\nWhat makes Conntour's technology unique is its ability to process video using natural language at scale, fully on-premises, with minimal hardware requirements. The system is deployed with mission-critical teams at leading intelligence and homeland security agencies.\r\n\r\nConntour is backed by top-tier investors including General Catalyst and Y Combinator, was selected for the first-ever Palantir Fellowship, and has the former CTO of the CIA on its advisory board.", "one_liner": "Query mission-critical video", "team_size": 20, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Defense", "launched_at": 1738284252, "tags": [ "Computer Vision", "Defense", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2025", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Defense" ], "regions": [ "Israel", "Middle East and North Africa" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/conntour", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2025/conntour.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "Tel Aviv-Yafo", "country": "IL", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/conntour/", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/c972b0925a72b8923c709c1b48733059aafb73d3.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Tom Blomfield", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/tom-blomfield" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1375912, "full_name": "Matan Goldner", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "I’m the co-founder and CEO of Conntour.\n\nI worked with security cameras for years, leading video surveillance in the Israeli military. I also led surveillance at a private security company - where I worked with most of the existing video analytics solutions.\n\nIn those roles, I used most of the existing solutions and experienced a major need that had no real solution. That experience also helped me build strong connections with global leaders in our industry.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/matan-goldner", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/974f6c497f392e466ec1107b5a3e6aa9decbdb9c.jpg" }, { "user_id": 405332, "full_name": "Tomer Kulla", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Co-Founder and CTO at Conntour, with a BSc in Computer Science focused on computer vision. \nPreviously, I founded and sold Nilus, where I worked on eCommerce ad-tech and recommendation engines (ML). \nMy career spans both hands-on experience—particularly in web, MLOps, and big data—and leadership roles, including managing teams and as a Director of Engineering managing goup of 3 teams.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomer-kulla/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/4507b1091a9e2181ef456272045e50b99403d0f3.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 87340, "title": "Conntour: Ask Security Cameras Anything", "tagline": "Search and monitor thousands of video feeds with simple text queries", "body": "**TL;DR**: **Conntour lets governments and corporates query their security cameras.**\n\nUsers can search past footage (“Find a man with a blue backpack”), set alerts (“Notify me if someone climbs over the wall”), and extract data (“How many vehicles entered yesterday?”).\n\nIn just a few months, Conntour secured the Singapore government as a paying customer.\n\nhttps://www.tella.tv/video/cm6k221g4000f0bl1csynd0p1/view\n\n# **Who we’re building it for:**\n\nConntour targets organizations with thousands of security cameras. That includes governments (military, police, intelligence) and businesses (corporates, retail, industrial companies). These teams can’t manage so many cameras and it leads to huge losses - money, legal violations, and even human lives.\n\n# **The Problem with existing solutions:**\n\nThey offer low customization, as they’re limited to pre-defined parameters (like shirt color or license plate number). This **lack of flexibility** causes missed critical events, too many false alarms, and countless hours wasted on manual footage review. Conntour solves this by offering **unlimited flexibility** through natural language queries - just ask anything.\n\n# **Team:**\n\nMatan (CEO) led a military video surveillance unit - leveraging security cameras to save lives. Tomer (CTO) is a second-time founder and former director of engineering.\n\nWe’ve known each other for 13 years, first meeting in the special forces during our mandatory military service. Since then, we’ve studied together and tackled many challenges side by side.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=87340&key=user_uploads/1375912/ab328256-e7c8-44fe-a9c0-ee0427cfab0d)\n\nWe’d be happy to hear from you at: [matan@conntour.com](mailto:matan@conntour.com)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Mii-conntour-ask-security-cameras-anything", "votes": 24, "created_at": "2025-01-31T21:45:31.892Z" } ] }, { "id": 30704, "name": "Albacore Inc.", "slug": "albacore-inc", "former_names": [ "Albacore Ocean Systems, Inc." ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/136331286874ea99fbd7e2a7b2acfee659b0c7bf.png", "website": "https://www.albacore.inc", "all_locations": "Philadelphia, PA, USA", "long_description": "Albacore Inc. builds mass-producible long-range drone submarines. In the era of autonomous warfare, we support military operators with underwater systems that can traverse oceans and be deployed at scale.", "one_liner": "Drone submarines", "team_size": 18, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Defense", "launched_at": 1753760756, "tags": [ "Drones", "Maritime", "Defense" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2025", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Defense" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/albacore-inc", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2025/albacore-inc.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "Philadelphia", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/107689623", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/136331286874ea99fbd7e2a7b2acfee659b0c7bf.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Jared Friedman", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/jared-friedman" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2629924, "full_name": "Dante Vaisbort", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "UChicago Classics major turned repeat defense tech startup founder from Los Angeles. Previous company developed autonomous system-focused power technologies for the DoD, now building the world's best underwater drones.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/dante-vaisbort/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/f9914774477ce8771c2ff1c85e49a1b594c91049.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2763448, "full_name": "John Huddleston", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "I'm a New York City native who graduated from Brown University with a degree in mechanical engineering. I spent 3 years advising Fortune 500 aerospace and defense companies and senior Navy leadership on autonomous systems before founding Albacore.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-huddleston-3584121b7/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/f5635ae8e5111b0a37558a03f311bc8aae94464d.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "Exclusive: YC-Backed Albacore Swims Into $6.5M Seed Round", "url": "https://www.tectonicdefense.com/exclusive-yc-backed-albacore-swims-into-6-5m-seed-round/", "date": "Oct 16, 2025" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 92587, "title": "🌊 Albacore – Autonomous micro-submarines", "tagline": "Building the technology to make maritime invasions impossible", "body": "### **TLDR:**\n\nHey everyone! We’re [**John**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-huddleston-3584121b7/) (engineer and unmanned systems expert) and [**Dante**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dante-vaisbort/) (repeat defense founder). [**Albacore Inc.**](https://www.albacore.inc/) is building the next generation of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) to prevent maritime invasions. Our first product is **Ghostfin:** a 6-foot-long autonomous underwater vehicle that can patrol over 1,000 nautical miles undetected and massively damage hostile watercraft.\n\n[**https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ6SYgIsDQs**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ6SYgIsDQs)\n\n### [**🏴‍☠️**](https://emojipedia.org/pirate-flag) The Problem: America doesn’t have any long-range underwater strike weapons.\n\nIn the case of an Indo-Pacific conflict, our military’s existing suite of autonomous underwater vehicles is woefully unprepared. Today’s unmanned underwater vehicles are short-range, expensive, and overly mission-specific. Unlike the Ukrainians or even the Houthis, America doesn’t have underwater vehicles built for attack missions in service.\n\n### **🚀 Our Solution: Low-cost autonomous underwater vehicles that can travel 10x further.**\n\nRange is the key constraint in massive bodies of water like the Pacific Ocean. The Albacore team has spent years working on power technology and manufacturing for unmanned systems, and can build Ghostfin far more efficiently than anything on the market today by using a combination of highly scalable in-house-designed and off-the-shelf components.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=92587&key=user_uploads/2629924/1f9c199a-487c-4de0-848e-94ae31db9ba6)\n\n### 👥 **Our Team:**\n\n**John Huddleston, Co-Founder:** John is a mechanical engineer who spent 3 years at the Boston Consulting Group advising government agencies and Fortune 500 companies in the defense industrial base. He worked on >$9b in unmanned systems manufacturing and procurement efforts alongside senior military leadership.\n\n**Dante Vaisbort, Co-Founder:** Dante is a second-time founder in defense, who has won and led more than >$10m in DoD contract efforts for his first company, Haylon Technologies, which builds power technology for autonomous systems and is still active.\n\nWe also have an incredible engineering team hailing from Lockheed Martin, Johnson & Johnson etc. who have won underwater vehicle competitions and have a combined 20 years experience on space flight technology, autonomous vehicle AI, medical robotics, and robosubs.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=92587&key=user_uploads/2629924/550044dc-1333-486f-8877-384a1270c501)\n\n### **😇 Our Ask:**\n\nPlease reach out to us if you can help us deliver solutions to the Navy, Special Operations Forces, intelligence community, or allied foreign militaries. If you know any commercial entities who may want this, that’s great too!\n\nStay tuned for us to blow stuff up in the next one. In the meantime, drop us a line at [**founders@albacore.inc**](mailto:founders@albacore.inc)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/O5L-albacore-autonomous-micro-submarines", "votes": 23, "created_at": "2025-07-30T21:53:17.995Z" } ] }, { "id": 30881, "name": "Wardstone", "slug": "wardstone", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/12a498451818daa71ba01c88400ac7f241e33a03.png", "website": "https://www.wardstone.us", "all_locations": "Los Angeles, CA, USA", "long_description": "Wardstone builds a low-cost, modular interceptor platform for air and missile defense. Our platform enables the warfighter to right sizes their interceptors against the threat. This allows us to defeat air-breathing and ballistic missile threats at a fraction of the cost of exquisite interceptors, adding affordable magazine depth to existing air defense systems.", "one_liner": "The Modular Interceptor Platform", "team_size": 8, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Aviation and Space", "launched_at": 1758642388, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Satellites", "Rocketry", "Aerospace", "Defense" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Fall 2025", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Aviation and Space" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/fall-2025/wardstone.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "Los Angeles", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/company/wardstone", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/12a498451818daa71ba01c88400ac7f241e33a03.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/ab81317481142b07105aa808600a4b4749295538.png", "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/4efeb33d5678c6b0ea2ce77889b521cbdc962c8c.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Garry Tan", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/garry-tan" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2077453, "full_name": "Sebastian Fischer", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "I am the cofounder & CEO of Wardstone, a missile defense company building modular interceptors to defend the U.S. and its allies from air-breathing and ballistic missiles. I have 11+ years of engineering and product experience in satellites, drones, and self-driving cars. I held leadership roles at Amazon Prime Air and Cruise Self-Driving and previously worked at Lockheed Martin and NASA on Planetary Spacecraft. I studied Aerospace Engineering at MIT and did a dual MS/MBA degree at Harvard. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebastian-fischer-71ba9658/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/a975f42da11779da4b51eab7d8fee48c2476250c.jpg" }, { "user_id": 736136, "full_name": "Tobias Fischer", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "I am the cofounder of Wardstone, where I lead the technical development of next-generation defense spacecraft. Previously I worked at Astranis, building, launching, and operating geostationary communication satellites. I hold a bachelor's in mechanical engineering from Cornell University. At Cornell, I was the Chief Spacecraft Engineer for a lunar CubeSat mission that demonstrated novel electric propulsion and navigation systems.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobifischer", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/2169bbf45e34664f0faded58ac46a6922eee79ba.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 117400, "title": "Mechanical Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/CFCKb8f-mechanical-engineer", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117401, "title": "Senior Propulsion Engineer - Solid Rocket Motors", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/fsF9kpQ-senior-propulsion-engineer-solid-rocket-motors", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "5+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117402, "title": "Lead Guidance, Navigation, and Controls Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/Rx9NXGQ-lead-guidance-navigation-and-controls-engineer", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "5+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117404, "title": "Engineering Intern", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/ebmOtW6-engineering-intern", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117406, "title": "Senior RF Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/dGSECYn-senior-rf-engineer", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "5+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117407, "title": "Lead Mechanical Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/VWvGVK4-lead-mechanical-engineer", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "5+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117408, "title": "Senior Mechanical Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/jr5qBxR-senior-mechanical-engineer", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "5+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117409, "title": "Senior Aerodynamics Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/ucT0UPc-senior-aerodynamics-engineer", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "5+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117410, "title": "Propulsion Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/0GHovwc-propulsion-engineer", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117411, "title": "Technical Program Manager", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/kOxrx3O-technical-program-manager", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "5+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117412, "title": "Avionics Technician", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/2Cri5XL-avionics-technician", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117413, "title": "Mechanical Technician", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/QdOCjsL-mechanical-technician", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117414, "title": "Operations and Logistics Associate", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/oD6arcZ-operations-and-logistics-associate", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117415, "title": "Supply Chain Manager", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/adts588-supply-chain-manager", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "5+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117416, "title": "Head of Manufacturing", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/nWEQ2kq-head-of-manufacturing", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "5+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117456, "title": "MBA Intern - Missile Defense", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/oD9vGAc-mba-intern-missile-defense", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117457, "title": "Avionics Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/vJZ96sk-avionics-engineer", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] } ], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 95440, "title": "Wardstone: Satellites for Missile Defense", "tagline": "Introducing New Space Defense Capabilities for America's Golden Dome", "body": "# **Introduction**\n\nHi YC,\\\n\\\nWe are [Tobias ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobifischer/)and [Sebastian](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebafischer/). Cofounders (and brothers!) of [Wardstone](https://www.wardstone.space/).\\\n\\\n**TL;DR:** Wardstone builds satellites for missile defense. We are pursuing an emerging \\~$40B/year space defense market as part of America’s Golden Dome initiative. Tobias studied Mechanical Engineering at Cornell and worked at Astranis. Sebastian studied Aerospace Engineering at MIT and worked at NASA, Lockheed Martin, Amazon, and Cruise. We built and demoed a live ground-based missile intercept during YC.\n\n# **Launch Video**\n\nCheckout the automated missile defense system we built during YC:\n\nhttps://youtu.be/jXABTM9GZ6s\n\n# **About Wardstone**\n\nWardstone builds space-based interceptors: satellites with interceptors designed to kinetically destroy missiles. New space threats, specifically hypersonic missiles, are emerging as existential threats to the United States. Our current missile defense systems were not designed for this new offensive technology. The United States’ Congress has allocated \\~$25B towards developing new on-orbit hypersonic missile defensive missile capabilities over the next 3 years. Follow on build out of this on-orbit defensive layer coined the _Golden Dome_ has been estimated by congress to cost up to $831B over the next 20 years.\\\n\\\nAt Wardstone, we believe that we can build defensive missile capabilities for a fraction of the cost of the offensive hypersonic weapons themselves, and orders of magnitude cheaper than the defensive concepts being proposed/explored by the major defense primes. We will do this with our first product, Hailstorm, that deploys high speed clouds of buckshot to kinetically destroy hypersonic missiles.\n\nOur integrated interceptor-satellite constellation provides global intercept capabilities from space for various missile types beyond hypersonics. \\\n\\\nThe success of Wardstone and the full deployment of the Golden Dome will place the United States in an incredibly strong geopolitical position.\n\nThe full Wardstone constellation with the space based intercept capability in action will look like this:\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95440&key=user_uploads/2077453/f2a877a7-c23c-438d-8714-5a854930bba2)\n\n# **Our Progress During YC**\n\nDuring YC we had 2 main objectives: 1) build our first missile intercept demo and 2) establish relationships with our main customer: the US Space Force.\\\n\\\n**The Intercept Demo**\\\nWe built a fully automated missile tracking and intercept system that uses infrared computer vision for predicting the future missile position and a high pressure air cannon to deploy an interceptor to destroy a 150+ mph missile. Our system provided repeatable behavior, could adapt to different missile speeds, and destroyed a total of 3 missiles. Checkout he video above for the entire story and insights into our system. Highlights below:\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95440&key=user_uploads/2077453/c1d9b5df-8297-4a8a-aec8-a8529cb805e8)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95440&key=user_uploads/2077453/4ea3e37d-2172-4627-bd54-67a1f2374fe3)\n\n**Space Force and Other Department of War Relationships**\\\nWe built relationships and engaged with multiple agencies inside the military including: Air Force Research Labs, AFWERX, Space Systems Command Commercialization Office, Space Safari, and the Navy’s Joint Special Operations Command. We are receiving letters of support for an Air Force $3MM Space Based Interceptor SBIR grant and are receiving inbound requests for additional use cases of our technology (Ground to Air, Space to Ground).\\\n\\\nWe have also engaged with five satellite bus and sounding rocket providers to integrate our Space Based Interceptors for our Series A demo milestone.\\\n\\\nIf Space Defense Technology resonates with you, please reach out: [founders@wardstone.space](mailto:founders@wardstone.space).\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95440&key=user_uploads/2077453/129abf15-7925-4374-9279-d48e58da1fa2)\n\n---", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/OpM-wardstone-satellites-for-missile-defense", "votes": 25, "created_at": "2025-11-12T06:56:19.257Z" } ] }, { "id": 30888, "name": "Lakonia", "slug": "lakonia", "former_names": [ "Bucinator" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/4443807fceed8c4c07d359095cd0ddfa3435352b.png", "website": "https://lakonia.us.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Lakonia is building an AI-powered command and control platform for law enforcement and the military. Our AI transcribes radio communications, analyzes them, and then synthesizes information for commanders/dispatchers and operators to act on.", "one_liner": "Delivering AI-powered situational awareness in tactical environments.", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Government", "subindustry": "Government", "launched_at": 1762149553, "tags": [ "GovTech", "NLP", "Defense" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Fall 2025", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Government" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/lakonia", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/fall-2025/lakonia.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/lakoniatechnologies/", "x_url": "https://x.com/lakoniatech", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": "https://github.com/Lakonia-Technologies", "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/4443807fceed8c4c07d359095cd0ddfa3435352b.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "David Lieb", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/david-lieb" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2944902, "full_name": "Gordy Sun", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Stanford EE CS, Ex-Saronic SWE Intern, 8VC Fellow", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/gordysun/", "x_url": "https://x.com/grdysun", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/5112e1eec872c8f5e452a8276abb3f1ad5dbdede.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 95135, "title": "Lakonia: AI-Powered Tactical Command and Control Software", "tagline": "Lakonia is building the next generation of command and control software to enhance the operations of first responders, law enforcement, and the military.", "body": "Hi! We’re [Gordy](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gordysun/) and [Justin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin2028/). We’re excited to publicly announce what we’ve been building at Lakonia.\n\n**TL;DR:** Lakonia’s AI Command and Control platform acts as a tactical assistant by listening to radio communications and using AI to automatically extract key intel, map units, and recommend actions. We give first-responder, law enforcement, and military teams the situational awareness they need to make better, faster decisions.\n\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrVPw4CVzxU\n\n# **The Problem:**\n\nPolice and military command and control technology is terribly archaic and outdated. Commanders in a central post rely almost entirely on fragmented radio chatter to understand complex situations, forcing them to build a mental picture from scratch on every incident/situation. And current software is woefully outdated - unintelligent and unintuitive.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95135&key=user_uploads/2944902/726ea501-6ff8-446d-9b30-a7fc9a3028fd)\n\nThese issues only get exacerbated during multi-agency operations, where different departments (like SFPD and CHP), military branches, or even allied forces cannot communicate seamlessly. Communication siloes, different cultures of radio etiquette, chains of command, etc. all make command and control even more difficult.\n\nAnd while at times this is just a daily annoyance, when it’s a matter of life or death, these communication breakdowns become **fatal**.\n\n# **Lakonia’s Solution:**\n\nOlympus is an **intelligent, real-time co-pilot** that plugs into existing radio networks, transforming chaotic voice chatter into a **clear, actionable operational picture.**\n\nOur AI engine works in real time by:\n\n**- Transcribing and diarizing** every transmission to identify who said what\n\n**- Parsing transmissions** to analyze and automatically tag critical information - for example, pinpointing addresses on a map, logging license plates, and identifying calls for backup\n\n**- Highlighting** the most urgent events and suggesting relevant next steps, **turning raw audio into structured intelligence**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95135&key=user_uploads/2944902/c78d42a9-f060-4024-a5e8-aac1466ad28d)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95135&key=user_uploads/2944902/4275d0a3-6853-4605-a15d-494eb39b5657)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95135&key=user_uploads/2944902/23e29921-35dc-449d-aa21-ea8880019c80)\n\nWe’ve also built a **mobile “Pip-boy” platform** for operators to access so that they can also be aware of what’s going on aside from their radio. This dual approach dramatically reduces the cognitive load on personnel at every level, empowering teams to make faster, smarter, and safer decisions when it matters most. \n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95135&key=user_uploads/2944902/5f679af9-289c-4cfb-80f3-fc8ba440b2e0)\n\nFor dispatchers and commanders, our software means less time spent clarifying details or trying to keep track of officer availability and statuses. For operators in the field, our software means less time waiting for dispatch to respond and better situational awareness in tactical environments.\n\nWe built Olympus with a deliberate focus on security, performance, and scalability. We rely on **no third party APIs**, allowing us to even operate in denied environments through mobile platforms. We are at FedRamp and CJIS-equivalent levels of compliance, utilizing AWS GovCloud for services. All the models we use are open-source models we fine-tuned ourselves.\n\nThis modular foundation allows us to rapidly integrate new capabilities. Our future roadmap includes advanced features like live drone feeds, computer vision analysis, and real-time language translation.\n\n# **About Us:**\n\nWe’re two Stanford engineering students who left after our freshman year to go build the tools that our public safety and military teams deserve. In designing and building our platform, we were heavily inspired by RTS video games we’ve played as intuitive interfaces for delivering critical information to players. We wondered why law enforcement and the military don’t have similar tools and decided to go build them ourselves.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95135&key=user_uploads/2944902/353cbfd1-d5fd-42e6-9d2d-5abbe867d7bc)\n\n# **Our Ask:**\n\nWe are looking for introductions to innovative leaders in public safety and defense who want to utilize our platform.\n\nOur ideal contacts are decision-makers (e.g., Chiefs, Sheriffs, Commanding Officers, Heads of Security) in:\n\n* Law Enforcement (Municipal Police, Sheriff's Offices, Transit/Campus Police)\n* Military (Infantry, Artillery, Armor, National Guard, Special Operations units)\n* Emergency Services (Fire, EMS)\n* Private Security (Corporate campuses, large venues, critical infrastructure)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/OkR-lakonia-ai-powered-tactical-command-and-control-software", "votes": 82, "created_at": "2025-11-03T20:09:53.018Z" } ] }, { "id": 30965, "name": "Icarus", "slug": "icarus", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/641db1cdc907f274cb944fd6796edc486aa6d653.png", "website": "https://www.icarus.one/", "all_locations": "Los Angeles, CA, USA", "long_description": "Icarus is building the modern-day U-2 spy plane. Our autonomous solar aircraft fly at 60,000 feet for weeks at a time, eventually months and years, above weather and below satellites. They deliver persistent intelligence and connectivity for the military at a fraction of the cost of existing systems. The stratosphere is the forgotten frontier.", "one_liner": "Stratospheric birds for defense", "team_size": 50, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Defense", "launched_at": 1759599519, "tags": [ "Hardware", "Aerospace", "Defense" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Fall 2025", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Defense" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/icarus", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/fall-2025/icarus.json", "year_founded": 2023, "city": "Los Angeles", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/icarusindustries", "x_url": "https://x.com/henicarus", "fb_url": "https://youtu.be/srWVWG19OXY", "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/641db1cdc907f274cb944fd6796edc486aa6d653.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/45b66df3250ad001f948f6fadbc64ac7b238e4ff.png", "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/ce10c519656481bb9706dbff7696efcfd518d51e.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Garry Tan", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/garry-tan" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 816302, "full_name": "Henry K.", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Founder & CEO of Icarus. At Orbital, Henry built satellites and helped win a $935M NASA contract to build a space habitat. He saw firsthand how Space is constrained by orbital mechanics. Additionally, he has designed and flown drones for NASA flight sciences, was a finalist in two NASA aerospace design competitions, and previously advised Fortune 500 clients on strategy at Deloitte. He holds an M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech and a Top Secret SCI clearance.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/kwan-henry", "x_url": "https://x.com/henicarus", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/257390481b4aa625bb9681ca4060c4aa11f46da2.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 89446, "title": "Senior Electrical Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/icarus/jobs/mkkPiGN-senior-electrical-engineer", "location": "Los Angeles, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Electrical", "salary_range": "$120K - $220K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 89447, "title": "Senior Embedded Software Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/icarus/jobs/rB9hg8j-senior-embedded-software-engineer", "location": "Los Angeles, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Embedded systems", "salary_range": "$120K - $220K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 89448, "title": "Senior Forward Deployed Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/icarus/jobs/UEIwBrH-senior-forward-deployed-engineer", "location": "Los Angeles, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Hardware", "salary_range": "$120K - $220K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 89449, "title": "Senior Full Stack Software Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/icarus/jobs/Brx6SmM-senior-full-stack-software-engineer", "location": "Los Angeles, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "$120K - $220K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 89450, "title": "Senior GNC Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/icarus/jobs/SaTMErI-senior-gnc-engineer", "location": "Los Angeles, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Hardware", "salary_range": "$120K - $220K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 89451, "title": "Senior Manufacturing Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/icarus/jobs/mmJ5itp-senior-manufacturing-engineer", "location": "Los Angeles, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Hardware", "salary_range": "$120K - $220K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 89452, "title": "Senior Mechanical Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/icarus/jobs/NPSWtPv-senior-mechanical-engineer", "location": "Los Angeles, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Mechanical", "salary_range": "$120K - $220K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 89453, "title": "Senior RF Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/icarus/jobs/eDMowlW-senior-rf-engineer", "location": "Los Angeles, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Hardware", "salary_range": "$120K - $220K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] } ], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 31180, "name": "Seeing Systems", "slug": "seeing-systems", "former_names": [ "Seeing Systems Ltd", "Seeing Systems", "Seeing Systems Ltd" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/8d8e226478cb43c163b19e22186c3bab3bdb9668.png", "website": "https://www.seeing-systems.com", "all_locations": "London, England, United Kingdom", "long_description": "We engineer inexpensive, autonomous strike drones designed to operate in the most contested combat environments on Earth!\r\n\r\nBy combining true hardware modularity with an agentic control system that lowers cognitive load on operators, we enable faster upgrades, broader adoption, and more than 2x reduction in lifecycle cost.\r\n\r\nOur customers and partners include the UK Royal Marine Commandos, several other units in the UK, and 4 other NATO forces, and we are currently shipping prototypes for iterative feedback.\r\n\r\nThink of us as Anduril, but with worse weather, and better banter.", "one_liner": "Modular AI-Commanded Drones for Defence", "team_size": 7, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Defense", "launched_at": 1768422348, "tags": [ "Hardware", "Drones", "Defense", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Defense" ], "regions": [ "United Kingdom", "Europe", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/seeing-systems", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2026/seeing-systems.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "London", "country": "GB", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/seeing-systems", "x_url": "https://x.com/S2_INC", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/8d8e226478cb43c163b19e22186c3bab3bdb9668.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/477d6d86739655ae1980c598667eb5d2363a8752.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Ankit Gupta", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/ankit-gupta" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2822007, "full_name": "Alexander Le Maitre", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "I've been obsessed with unmanned systems since I was a kid. Nobody was going to teach me embedded electronics or PCB design, so I taught myself.\n\nSince then, I've built Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) training and diagnostic hardware for militaries - plus a few projects I'm still not allowed to talk about. I've trained special forces in fifth-generation warfare and modern IED tech.\n\nI'm from a small island called Guernsey. These days I run a company building tech that keeps the country safe.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-le-maitre-a9138a159/", "x_url": "https://www.x.com/Alex_10200", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/ddba90120d950889505bd3c360846048249d8f03.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2537241, "full_name": "Matthew Le Maitre", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Ex-Jane Street SWE, Top-Ranked CS Grad @ Cambridge, now building Defence Tech.\n\nPhysicist → Researcher → Consultant → Software Engineer → Founder 🚀\n\nTrying never to lose my inner child, whilst building things that really matter.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattlemaitre/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/db02b50873d95d057676e7071ea66492a4dce742.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 94035, "title": "Senior Hardware Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/seeing-systems/jobs/sAnZW1T-senior-hardware-engineer", "location": "London, England, GB", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Hardware", "salary_range": "£60K - £90K GBP", "equity_range": "0.25% - 1.00%", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizenship/visa not required", "skills": [ "CAD Design", "Altium" ] }, { "id": 94262, "title": "Electrical Engineering Intern", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/seeing-systems/jobs/QbVAgqi-electrical-engineering-intern", "location": "London, England, GB", "type": "Internship", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Hardware", "salary_range": "£2K - £3K GBP / monthly", "equity_range": "", "experience": null, "visa": "US citizenship/visa not required", "skills": [ "CAD Design", "Altium" ] }, { "id": 94623, "title": "Software Engineering Intern", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/seeing-systems/jobs/pBZFivv-software-engineering-intern", "location": "London, England, GB / Christchurch, England, GB", "type": "Internship", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "£2K - £3K GBP / monthly", "equity_range": "", "experience": null, "visa": "US citizenship/visa not required", "skills": [ "Arduino", "Python", "AI Agents" ] }, { "id": 98786, "title": "Mechanical Hardware Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/seeing-systems/jobs/zlM5hzH-mechanical-hardware-engineer", "location": "London, England, GB", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Hardware", "salary_range": "£30K - £45K GBP", "equity_range": "0.10% - 0.25%", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "CAD Design" ] }, { "id": 98787, "title": "Electrical Hardware Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/seeing-systems/jobs/p0iWpIm-electrical-hardware-engineer", "location": "London, England, GB", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Embedded systems", "salary_range": "£30K - £45K GBP", "equity_range": "0.10% - 0.25%", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "Altium" ] } ], "news": [ { "title": "Welcoming General Wesley Clark and General Sir Richard Shirreff to Our Advisory Board - Seeing Systems", "url": "https://www.seeing-systems.com/two-of-natos-most-senior-commanders-join-our-advisory-board/", "date": "Jun 27, 2026" }, { "title": "Як Seeing Systems з Y Combinator тестує автономні дрони в Україні ", "url": "https://ain.ua/2026/05/25/seeing-systems-ukraine/", "date": "May 25, 2026" }, { "title": "The Top 8 Robotics and Drone Startups in YC W26 - The Silicon Valley Post", "url": "https://svpost.com/articles/top-robotics-drone-startups-yc-w26/", "date": "Mar 18, 2026" }, { "title": "Alexander Le Maitre on Attritable Systems and Agentic Warfare | AIPressRoom", "url": "https://aipressroom.com/alexander-le-maitre-seeing-systems/", "date": "Feb 23, 2026" }, { "title": "‘Their acceptance rate is less than 1% – it’s harder than Harvard’", "url": "https://guernseypress.com/news/2026/02/11/their-acceptance-rate-is-less-than-1percent-its-harder-than-harvard", "date": "Feb 10, 2026" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 97412, "title": "Seeing Systems: Modular Autonomous Drones for Modern Warfare", "tagline": "We build modular, autonomous strike drones that adapt as warfare evolves.", "body": "# **Hey everyone**\n\nWe’re Alex & Matthew - The brothers building **Seeing Systems**.\n\n---\n\n## **TL;DR**\n\nWe're building **inexpensive, autonomous strike drones** designed to stay operationally relevant as warfare evolves. By combining true hardware modularity with an agentic control system that lowers cognitive load on operators, we enable faster upgrades, broader adoption, and more than 2x reduction in lifecycle cost.\n\nOur customers and partners include the UK Royal Marine Commandos, several other units in the UK, and 4 other NATO forces, and we are currently shipping prototypes to Ukraine for iterative feedback.\n\n\n\n## **Problem**\n\nMilitary forces face two linked challenges:\n\n1. **Platform Obsolescence:** Fixed drones require replacement or major rebuilds whenever missions or threats evolve, driving high costs and slowing operational adaptation.\n2. **The One Pilot Problem:** One person can only control one drone at once, requiring full attention.\n\nCountless stories can be found of western drone systems becoming obsolete, needing to be shelved and eventually replaced.\n\nA Few Examples:\n\n* \n* \n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=97412&key=user_uploads/2822007/9dfb1275-b59e-4c17-9862-3a9d8a11534d)\n\n# **Solution**\n\nWe build autonomous, modular drones that solve both problems at once:\n\n* **Modular hardware:** Swappable payloads, sensors, compute, and comms let one platform support strike, ISR, or swarm missions. Upgradable and effective year after year.\n* **Agentic autonomy:** Automates tasks like navigation and coordination, so operators with no prior training can use systems to their full effectiveness.\n\nHow do we know? Well, Forward Deployed Engineers. Giving each unit we work with a point of contact, we take feedback and integrate them into our system in a matter of hours. A close collaboration with the UK Royal Marines Commandos is actually what led to the development of this system.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=97412&key=user_uploads/2822007/7170ca7a-bd1d-4d2b-a6a7-f77ce762975e)\n\n## **The Team**\n\n**Matthew Le Maitre - Co-Founder, Software**\n\nFormer Jane Street Software Engineer and top-ranked CS graduate from the University of Cambridge. Matthew’s path started at the Mobile Robotics Lab at Cambridge, where he worked on autonomous systems and context-aware drones. He now leads the software side of Seeing Systems.\n\n**Alex Le Maitre - Co-Founder, Hardware**\n\nAlex has been obsessed with unmanned systems since childhood and is largely self-taught in embedded electronics, firmware, and PCB design. He has previously designed Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) training and diagnostic hardware for military users, alongside projects with national-security implications. Originally from the island of Guernsey, Alex now leads hardware development with a focus on building robust systems that help keep our people safe.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=97412&key=user_uploads/2822007/dfc9b55c-c1b7-4ac3-a6bb-8e7760b2d006)\n\nIf you’re a military contractor, defense organisation or special forces unit looking for a real operational edge, contact us at [founders@seeing-systems.com](mailto:founders@seeing-systems.com) &[ www.seeing-systems.com](http://www.seeing-systems.com)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/PLA-seeing-systems-modular-autonomous-drones-for-modern-warfare", "votes": 30, "created_at": "2026-02-02T21:03:43.432Z" } ] }, { "id": 31298, "name": "Applied Electrodynamics, Inc.", "slug": "applied-electrodynamics-inc", "former_names": [ "Applied Electrodynamics" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/11648bf43e6f51e66e8e798d40073877c53c2f20.png", "website": "https://www.ae-dyn.com/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Applied Electrodynamics builds imaging systems that see through solid matter. Our team previously co-invented the iPhone touchscreen and Nest learning thermostat. We’re starting in construction, helping teams map structural elements and utilities inside walls and ceilings. The same platform extends to security screening and cargo inspection. Our mission is to make the hidden physical world machine-readable across the entire electromagnetic spectrum.\r\n", "one_liner": "A new kind of camera that can see through walls.", "team_size": 5, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials", "launched_at": 1785202775, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "Construction", "Manufacturing", "Defense" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/applied-electrodynamics-inc", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/applied-electrodynamics-inc.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/applied-electrodynamics", "x_url": "https://x.com/ae_dynamics", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/11648bf43e6f51e66e8e798d40073877c53c2f20.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Jon Xu", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/jon-xu" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2724984, "full_name": "Bilgehan Avser", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Bil Avser previously led antenna technologies at Apple across multiple iPhone generations, including UWB, 5G, and mmWave systems, before serving as Head of Technology at Humane through its acquisition by HP. He holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering, has 35+ patents in electromagnetics and RF systems, and received the IEEE APS Pre-Doctoral Research Award.\n", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/bavser", "x_url": "https://x.com/bavser", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/1b1a0995ed1bd232a77653db4e4dee2ab647ac71.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2980661, "full_name": "Brian Huppi", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Brian Huppi is a hardware engineer and inventor who helped build the earliest iPhone prototypes at Apple, contributing to the multitouch hardware that redefined how the world interacts with devices. He co-invented the first generation Nest Learning Thermostat and later worked on the AI Pin at Humane. He is a named inventor on numerous patents spanning touch interfaces, sensing systems, lighting, and connected devices. Brian holds degrees in Civil and Electrical Engineering from UMass Amherst.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-huppi-69a8433/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/d67b0681b838d1fed82f35b18d6a43b7bebae7ab.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2974809, "full_name": "Paul Leutheuser", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Paul Leutheuser is a hardware product design engineer who drove numerous new iPhone features into production, including the first haptic home button and IPX8 sealed enclosure. He then designed and shipped multiple 0-1 products at Humane, leading the Product Design team post-acquisition. Paul has 11 patents and holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from UC Berkeley.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-leutheuser-54207364/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/034c1ff34b8c99a04807aa712b02f94f3c6d3e72.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2980566, "full_name": "George McLean", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "George McLean is an applied physicist with wide-ranging experience in semiconductor imaging systems and medical devices and patents in retinal prothesis and wearable physiological monitoring. At Humane he made key contributions to the laser display of the Ai Pin. He holds degrees in physics from MIT and UC Berkeley.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-mclean-75990415/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/4b8c4f90c563da550a00fdb0e86935250883a24f.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 108275, "title": "Applied Electrodynamics: A new kind of camera that can see through walls", "tagline": "Making the physical world machine-readable across the entire electromagnetic spectrum", "body": "**TL;DR:** We are building a new kind of camera that can see through walls using radio waves. We provide construction, industrial inspection, and security teams with an accurate map of hidden objects behind walls and composite surfaces.\n\n\n\n## **The Problem**\n\nMost of the built world is opaque.\n\nPipes, cables, and structural elements hide behind walls until they're discovered mid-project, driving $20B+ a year in avoidable rework.\n\nDefects remain hidden inside composites until parts break.\n\nEntry teams are missing critical information before they breach a barrier.\n\n## **The Solution**\n\nAn imaging platform that uses radio waves to see behind walls. It works just like a camera, requiring no training and producing high-resolution images that are instantly understandable. The resulting point cloud is natively to scale, accurate down to 1mm.\n\n## **The Team**\n\nFour engineers who've worked together for 8+ years, shipped multiple zero-to-one hardware products, and hold 250+ patents.\n\n**Bilgehan** — PhD in electromagnetics; led antenna technologies on four iPhone generations, shipping the first phones with UWB and 5G mmWave; inventor of the zirconia dielectric resonator antenna.\n\n**Brian** — built the earliest iPhone prototypes at Apple, co-invented iPhone multitouch and the Nest Learning Thermostat; degrees in Electrical and Civil Engineering.\n\n**George** — MIT physicist; built x-ray imagers, retinal implants, optical sensors and the world's smallest laser projector.\n\n**Paul** — Berkeley Mech.E.; ex-Apple and Humane product design lead; co-invented iPhone haptic Touch ID, IPX8 sealing.\n\n## **What we built**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=108275&key=user_uploads/2724984/c00b3438-c7f7-433f-941d-e021791e51c5)\n\nWe've built the hardware and imaging algorithms that can see behind composite layers and common building materials (sheetrock, tiles, marble, quartz, brick and insulation). Next step is our handheld platform that fuses our radio imaging with RGB and thermal cameras.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=108275&key=user_uploads/2724984/f1cf1ffa-8b23-4780-b363-13b0db90832d)\n\n## **Our Ask**\n\nWe're looking for intros to decision makers at general contracting firms and industrial inspection teams, and to contacts with military access who can introduce and demo our systems to US defense organizations.\n\nIf that's you or someone you know, reach out to us at [founders@ae-dyn.com](mailto:founders@ae-dyn.com)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/SAN-applied-electrodynamics-a-new-kind-of-camera-that-can-see-through-walls", "votes": 25, "created_at": "2026-07-30T14:48:05.478Z" } ] }, { "id": 31486, "name": "Ornadyne", "slug": "ornadyne", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/a1b22be817e9ad2d1f4b3a606e7b94d10bc6a8d6.png", "website": "https://ornadyne.com/", "all_locations": "Los Angeles, CA, USA", "long_description": "Ornadyne builds flapping-wing drones for reconnaissance that look, fly, and sound like birds.\r\n\r\nToday’s drones are easy to detect acoustically, visually, and electronically. As counter-UAS systems improve, traditional quadcopters and fixed-wing UAS systems are becoming increasingly ineffective for close-range surveillance. \r\n\r\nFlapping-wing aircraft have existed for years, but have lacked the performance, endurance, and control required for real-world deployment. We’re changing that by engineering a high-performance, stealth-optimized system built from first principles for efficiency, autonomy, and reliable field use.\r\n\r\nThe final frontier of surveillance won’t look like machines; it will look like wildlife already in the sky. \r\n\r\nMaybe birds aren't real?", "one_liner": "We're building robot birds for surveillance.", "team_size": 4, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Drones", "launched_at": 1777342640, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Robotics", "Drones", "Aerospace", "Defense" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Spring 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Drones" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/ornadyne", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/spring-2026/ornadyne.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "Los Angeles", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/ornadyne/", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/a1b22be817e9ad2d1f4b3a606e7b94d10bc6a8d6.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Aaron Epstein", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/aaron-epstein" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1504179, "full_name": "Geourg Kivijian", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder & CEO of Ornadyne. Award-winning engineer (IEEE/AIAA) recognized for pioneering work in flapping-wing robotics. Previously led coordination systems for Mars Sample Return at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and lunar rovers at Astrolab. Now scaling Ornadyne to bring bio-inspired stealth and efficiency to the next generation of flight. www.geourgkivijian.com", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/geourg-kivijian/", "x_url": "https://x.com/geourgkivijian", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/e337453d3b319353220202f1fe100ab8ce774327.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3374971, "full_name": "Armen Arakelyan", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder & CTO at Ornadyne, building autonomous flapping-wing aircraft. Previously a Starship components engineer at SpaceX. Before that, I led machining at USC Rocket Propulsion Laboratory at the University of Southern California, helping the team set the amateur rocketry altitude world record at 144 km.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/armen-arakelyan-171b71219/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/2145da603ff13a23eff254476a2594ae5eed387b.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 100617, "title": "Ornadyne - Robot Birds for Reconnaissance", "tagline": "Autonomous bird-like drones for military reconnaissance.", "body": "**TL;DR:** Ornadyne is building robot birds for surveillance: drones with cameras for the military that look, fly, and sound like real birds**🦅**\n\n### The Problem(s):\n\nTraditional drones have two main problems:\n\n1. Propellers are **loud**\n2. They don’t blend in; they’re **visually obvious**\n\nThis makes traditional fixed-wing and quadcopter drones extremely detectable, and inadvertently easy to shoot down and run away from.\n\n\n\n---\n\nThis isn’t new. The U.S. used to lead flapping-wing flight, but **today, Europe and China are far ahead. Ornadyne is bringing the U.S. back into the lead.**\n\nWe're building autonomous ornithopters with hour-class flight times, low acoustic signatures, and natural bird-like flight. This makes Ornadyne's drones harder for humans and counter-UAS systems to detect, classify, and target.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=100617&key=user_uploads/1504179/a361939c-74a4-427b-a2ef-a96f6cdc2884)\n\n---\n\n### The Founders:\n\n**Geourg’s** Master's thesis is built on 2+ years of research and development in flapping-wing drones. His work has received multiple awards through AIAA and IEEE conference publications. He is ex- NASA JPL, and ex-Astrolab, where he worked on Mars and lunar missions.\n\n**Armen** engineered Starship components at SpaceX and previously led machining at USC Rocket Propulsion Laboratory, helping the team set the amateur rocketry altitude world record at 144 km.\n\nBoth founders have been best friends since middle school.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=100617&key=user_uploads/1504179/60143f25-5da7-45dd-93a0-0be77f9c5b45)\n\n### Ask:\n\nIf you work in defense tech or are building in the space, we’d love to connect. Introductions to anyone who might be interested in working with us would be much appreciated.", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/QAr-ornadyne-robot-birds-for-reconnaissance", "votes": 30, "created_at": "2026-05-01T00:54:15.289Z" } ] }, { "id": 31535, "name": "Arlo Industries", "slug": "arlo-industries", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/9516f2cea09963c1b9ba307c35589a5d194c61c0.png", "website": "https://arlo1.com/", "all_locations": "New York City, NY, USA", "long_description": "Arlo Industries is building a network of sensors that precisely tracks stealthy drones and aerial threats better than radars.\r\n\r\nThis capability does not exist yet because traditional radars are built on past war doctrines designed to protect single, centralised assets. Modern warfare, however, demands wide-area, persistent coverage that is both passive and economically scalable. By utilising a mesh architecture, Arlo Industries unlocks unprecedented asymmetric economics. The network is fundamentally built to scale: the cost of adding sensors grows linearly, but the tracking accuracy increases exponentially, delivering highly resilient, persistent coverage for a fraction of the cost of legacy systems.\r\n\r\nDeo founded Arlo Industries after spending over 6 years in the Israeli defence ecosystem, where he lived through multiple conflicts and experienced the Iron Dome and other systems in action against ICBMs and the infamous Shahed drones. Learning exactly how these defence systems could be improved after a Shahed exploded close to his apartment, he built Arlo Industries around the core philosophy that conflict should be concise & precise.\r\n\r\nThe people behind Arlo1 includes a PhD in drones and autonomy and military experts.\r\n\r\nArlo Industries has actively showcased this technology directly to Ukrainian militaries on the frontlines, as well as to operators across Europe and the USA.", "one_liner": "Track drones and missiles without radars - Accurate, Passive, Scalable", "team_size": 3, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Defense", "launched_at": 1778901342, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "Defense" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Spring 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Defense" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/arlo-industries", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/spring-2026/arlo-industries.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "New York City", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/109767109/", "x_url": "https://x.com/deoarlo", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/9516f2cea09963c1b9ba307c35589a5d194c61c0.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/8c30398e6fbec40fc7ceb036a37a0024c0926d77.png", "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/c2bbb6ca28e8561d0326f8b86f11ce2c2bbb1a06.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Andrew Miklas", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/andrew-miklas" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 836806, "full_name": "Deo Arlo (Iron Dome Guy)", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Deo is the Founder and CEO of Arlo Industries. He studied Mechanical Engineering at Technion Israel (birthplace of the Iron Dome) and lived there for over 6 years under multiple wars. As a Robotics Researcher at Technion, he developed and patented a novel robotic invention that spun out into a venture-backed company. Before Arlo Industries, he was the Co-founder and CTO of Makrverse, a funded platform helping engineers own and commercialise their inventions.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/deoarlo", "x_url": "https://x.com/deoarlo", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/9af3f2e9119170995152885140fc223f0d1b75f5.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 95369, "title": "Perception Engineer (Edge CV/AI)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/arlo-industries/jobs/MdmYa3Z-perception-engineer-edge-cv-ai", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US / Troy, NY, US / Remote (Kyiv, Kyiv city, UA; Helsinki, Uusimaa, FI)", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Hardware", "salary_range": "$100K - $250K", "equity_range": "0.25% - 1.00%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "C++", "Python", "TensorFlow", "Distributed Systems", "Deep Learning", "CUDA", "GPU Programming", "OpenCV", "Computer Vision", "Embedded Linux", "Firmware", "Machine learning", "Sensor integration" ] }, { "id": 95372, "title": "Communications & Networking Engineer (Mesh / RF / Edge Systems)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/arlo-industries/jobs/RZXGfgu-communications-networking-engineer-mesh-rf-edge-systems", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US / Troy, NY, US / Remote (Kyiv, Kyiv city, UA; Helsinki, Uusimaa, FI)", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Electrical", "salary_range": "$150K - $250K", "equity_range": "0.25% - 1.00%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "C++", "Python", "TCP/IP", "Distributed Systems", "Software Architecture", "Information Security", "Embedded Linux", "Firmware", "Internet of Things (IoT)", "Microcontrollers", "Sensor integration" ] } ], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 101954, "title": "Arlo Industries: We track drones and missiles without radar 🚀", "tagline": "We build sensors that track drones & missiles better than radars", "body": "---\n\n**Hi, I'm Deo, founder of [Arlo Industries](https://arlo1.com/).**\n\n\n\n**The problem**\n\nModern air defence depends on active radars: expensive, emitting, and targetable. A single ground-based radar unit can cost tens of millions, broadcasts its location to anything listening, and leaves massive coverage gaps against low-altitude threats like drones.\n\nThis architecture was built for a different era. Today's threat, swarms of cheap drones and cruise missiles flying below radar coverage, exploits every weakness of centralised, active sensing.\n\n**What we're building**\n\nMentat is a passive, distributed sensing network.\n\n* **Tracks aerial objects in 3D without emitting**: invisible to the threats it detects\n* **Accurately track smaller threats**: our mesh works together to better pinpoint small targets\n* **Scales via many low-cost nodes**: instead of a few high-value targets, we employ asymmetric economics where adding nodes grows linearly in cost but tracking accuracy increases exponentially\n\nWe're the sensing layer, the force multiplier for every interceptor and C-UAS system in the market.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=101954&key=user_uploads/836806/ddbe92c9-897d-4e52-90ab-c8574ed7335c)\n\n**What we're really building**\n\nDrone detection is our wedge, not our ceiling. The real innovation isn't in any single sensor, it's in the network that ties it all together. We're building the foundational sensing and communications infrastructure layer for frontline defence. A distributed, resilient network that future defence technologies will plug into. Like the **Starlink before the Starship.**\n\n**Why now**\n\nLow-altitude airspace is increasingly contested. Ukraine, Nordics, Eastern Europe, & Middle East, operators everywhere are discovering that the cost curve of traditional radar doesn't scale against distributed drone threats. At the same time, edge compute, distributed systems, and passive optical sensing have reached the point where a fundamentally different architecture is viable.\n\n**Backstory**\n\nI spent 6+ years in Israel, living through multiple conflicts and seeing systems like Iron Dome operate against ballistic missiles and drones firsthand. When a Shahed drone exploded near my apartment, the gap between what exists and what's needed became personal. Since then, I've been in Ukraine and across Eastern Europe, working directly with military operators and validating in real conflict environments.\n\n📍Field Test - Ukraine\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=101954&key=user_uploads/836806/b380d961-dde4-4e50-b6eb-1cbf708e6d3c)\n\n**Traction**\n\n* Active technology demonstrations with Ukrainian military on the frontlines\n* Partnerships and military relationships across USA, Ukraine, Finland, and Estonia.\n* Team includes a PhD in drones/autonomy and military domain experts\n\n**Our asks**\n\n🔧 **Hiring:** We're looking for engineers in optics, signal processing, long-range comms, mesh networks, and off-grid embedded systems → [Jobs page](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/arlo-industries/jobs)\n\n🤝 **Intros:** Defense operators, C-UAS companies, or critical infrastructure partners (airports, energy, borders) dealing with aerial awareness gaps → please reach out on [Linkedin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/deoarlo/)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/QWQ-arlo-industries-we-track-drones-and-missiles-without-radar", "votes": 55, "created_at": "2026-05-26T05:39:42.686Z" } ] }, { "id": 31582, "name": "Edgerun", "slug": "edgerun", "former_names": [ "Edgerun Industries" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/8fb84bc8b7f8d02b776dec7685bbaf102fdadf1c.png", "website": "https://edgerun.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Edgerun builds military exoskeletons. The first product is a 10-pound hip system that fits over existing kit and doubles a soldier’s range. Since April 2026, Edgerun built over a dozen iterations of their product through continuous field tests with Ukrainian fighters and secured $150M+ in LOIs. Founder David Venegas previously co-founded Durin (autonomous mining robotics) and worked at Stoke Space (at 19) and Hadrian. He is a high-school dropout, state-championship runner, adventure athlete, and pilot. Edgerun is a Y Combinator company backed by General H.R. McMaster, Cyan Banister, Joshua Steinman and Jason Miller. edgerun.com", "one_liner": "Military exoskeletons", "team_size": 5, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Defense", "launched_at": 1787343759, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "Robotics", "Defense" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Defense" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/edgerun", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/edgerun.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/edgerun", "x_url": "https://x.com/edgerun_inc", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/edgerun-industries", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/8fb84bc8b7f8d02b776dec7685bbaf102fdadf1c.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Tyler Bosmeny", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/tyler-bosmeny" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1393855, "full_name": "David Venegas", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Founder of Edgerun, pro-human expansionist, state-championship runner, adventure athlete, and pilot.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-venegas-m/", "x_url": "https://x.com/davidvenegas", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/c10fbaaf669d694298a5fa036ff23e69baf933f4.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 109346, "title": "Principal Engineer, Embedded Systems", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/edgerun/jobs/6Pn7CiI-principal-engineer-embedded-systems", "location": "Palo Alto, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Embedded systems", "salary_range": "$220 - $325", "equity_range": "0.75% - 2.00%", "experience": "11+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "C++", "Firmware" ] }, { "id": 109347, "title": "Mechanical Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/edgerun/jobs/ugTXhoh-mechanical-engineer", "location": "Palo Alto, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Mechanical", "salary_range": "$120 - $180", "equity_range": "0.25% - 0.75%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "CAD Design", "Design systems" ] }, { "id": 109348, "title": "Electrical Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/edgerun/jobs/6YuWGTT-electrical-engineer", "location": "Palo Alto, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Electrical", "salary_range": "$120 - $180", "equity_range": "0.25% - 0.75%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "PCB design" ] }, { "id": 109349, "title": "Firmware Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/edgerun/jobs/0LmpEaM-firmware-engineer", "location": "Palo Alto, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Embedded systems", "salary_range": "$140 - $190", "equity_range": "0.25% - 0.75%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "C++", "Firmware" ] }, { "id": 109350, "title": "Software Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/edgerun/jobs/U3cSW0r-software-engineer", "location": "Palo Alto, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "$150 - $200", "equity_range": "0.25% - 0.75%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "Amazon Web Services (AWS)", "C", "C++", "Python", "Data Warehousing", "Data Analytics" ] }, { "id": 110829, "title": "Supply Chain Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/edgerun/jobs/Ecz1f6N-supply-chain-engineer", "location": "Palo Alto, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Hardware", "salary_range": "$110 - $160", "equity_range": "0.25% - 0.75%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] } ], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 112214, "title": "Edgerun: The 10 lb Military Exoskeleton", "tagline": "Powered exoskeleton that assists every step a soldier takes under combat load", "body": "**TL;DR:** Edgerun builds powered legs for soldiers. A 10 lb exoskeleton worn at the waist that adds assistance to every step and cuts the effort of moving under a combat load by 30-45%. Since May, we've run 100+ field tests with Ukrainian operators out of our Kyiv field office.\n\n\n\n**▍The problem**\n\nEvery system on the modern battlefield has been upgraded. The human carrying it has not.\n\n* For 2,500 years the soldier's load sat around 40 lbs. In the last 40 years it **doubled, then doubled again**.\n* A US infantryman now carries **90-140 lbs** into a fight. The Army's own field manual sets the limit at 48 lbs.\n* On deployment, load carriage causes **twice as many** evacuations as enemy contact.\n* The Pentagon and VA spend **$9.3B a year** on the injuries it leaves behind.\n\nBattles are won through speed and surprise. Load kills both.\n\n**▍Why now**\n\nSixty years of military exoskeletons died the same death. The device cost more to carry than it gave back. SOCOM's TALOS burned $400M before it was cancelled in 2019.\n\nThat all changed in the last 18 months. The humanoid robotics boom produced one-pound actuators that put out 30+ Nm of torque, and 21700 cells crossed 450 Wh/kg. The components finally exist. They’re getting better every quarter.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=112214&key=user_uploads/1393855/cd255b24-3429-4270-9670-e28fc8df360b)\n\n**▍What we built**\n\nOur first exoskeleton is a bilateral hip system worn at the waist. It reads your gait in real time and adds torque at the moment your hip drives forward. The hip produces about 60% of the force in loaded walking, so assisting it gives the most help-per-pound of anything you could strap to the body.\n\n* Under 10 lbs with batteries\n* 30-45% less metabolic cost under a combat load\n* On in 5 seconds, off in one\n* 12+ hours on hot-swappable drone-class batteries\n* Quasi-direct-drive actuators, composite structures, CAN bus. Nothing exotic by design.\n\nThe soldier arrives at the objective still able to fight, patrols 10 km farther, and keeps a body that lasts past one tour.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=112214&key=user_uploads/1393855/94bf48a9-0ba6-4ce7-94a2-f467cae9657c)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=112214&key=user_uploads/1393855/883d1e98-900a-420a-b7ff-e56cc8911c0c)\n\n**▍Ukraine**\n\nOur field engineers work out of a Kyiv office, alongside operators from infantry, special operations, and National Guard units who provide structured feedback every day. [Balistyka](https://balistyka.ua/), one of Ukraine's leading body armor makers, is an integration partner, helping us ensure our system fits the kit soldiers already wear.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=112214&key=user_uploads/1393855/89a30d39-fe11-421c-abe7-32961da8d1bd)\n\n**▍The mission**\n\nDefense is the first customer, not the last. Read the mission at edgerun.com/mission", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/TBu-edgerun-the-10-lb-military-exoskeleton", "votes": 7, "created_at": "2026-08-25T16:19:00.453Z" } ] }, { "id": 32128, "name": "Mass Magnetics", "slug": "mass-magnetics", "former_names": [ "Mass Energy Company" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/26161cef0e683292e39a5da2d6258b38702473a0.png", "website": "https://massmagnetics.com/", "all_locations": "Boston, MA, USA", "long_description": "Mass Magnetics turns recycled rare-earth scrap into high-performance permanent magnets, made in America. The materials we supply are the backbone of electric motors, sensors, speakers, hard drives, and electronics.\r\nOur process enables DFARS-compliant magnets for defense, aerospace, and industrial manufacturers who demand domestic supply without compromising on quality.\r\nOperations in Greater Boston, MA (Greentown Labs) and Columbus, IN.", "one_liner": "USA-made magnetics for robotics and defense. ", "team_size": 3, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Defense", "launched_at": 1786735839, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Robotics", "Drones", "Manufacturing", "Defense" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Defense" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/mass-magnetics", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/mass-magnetics.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "Boston", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/26161cef0e683292e39a5da2d6258b38702473a0.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Vivian Midha Shen", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/vivian-midha%20shen" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 3652354, "full_name": "Eric Silver", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Founder at Mass Magnetics. Worked in pilot cathode production for lithium-sulfur battery chemistries. Now I'm fixing American magnet supply chains. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/energyeric/", "x_url": "https://x.com/2998x10tothe8", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/c8160b42bdee61a0dff0fef65dd723b8cae326e3.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3637161, "full_name": "Matthew Groll", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder and CTO at Mass Magnetics. Former NASA/Columbia/MIT. Previously worked on thermal systems and guidance/navigation at NASA Johnson Space Center for ISS and Artemis lunar missions. Also previously worked as a Member of Technical Staff at Draper Laboratory. Studied Mechanical Engineering at Columbia, captaining the Formula SAE team and Robotics Club, then earned a Masters in Manufacturing from MIT.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-groll/", "x_url": "https://x.com/matthewxgroll", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/68e632830dda51ab14dec0fac18967c93ed5c8ed.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 110611, "title": "Mass Magnetics: USA-made magnets", "tagline": "Vertically integrated magnet manufacturing for aerospace, robotics and defense.", "body": "### **TL:DR; Mass Magnetics makes American magnets in minutes.**\n\n🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=110611&key=user_uploads/3652354/be41c9e5-378d-452f-a111-10380035f14d)\n\n**Every electric motor runs on rare-earth magnets.** EVs, drones, robots, wind turbines, guided munitions: nearly all of them are dependent on Chinese magnets. On January 1st, 20270, [regulation changes will make it illegal to deliver anything that walks, drives, or flies to US Defense if it contains a magnet produced in covered countries like China.](https://www.massmagnetics.com/comply) The domestic supply chain meant to replace it doesn't exist yet. **Mines take a decade to permit, and the ore they pull up leaves radioactive tailings behind, making permitting magnet mining a nightmare.**\n\nWe’re[ ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/energyeric)the founders, [Eric Silver](https://x.com/metalscontent) and [Matthew Grol](https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-groll/)l (left and right in the pic below). We’ve known each other since grade school. Since then, Eric’s built multiple battery pilot production lines and materials science labs in the Midwest for NSF-funded companies. Matthew’s built exquisite aerospace gear including Moon-regolith melters and ultra-precise guidance systems for the world’s foremost labs at NASA, Draper, and MIT. **Together we’re making one bet: America's rare-earth problem isn't a mining problem.**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=110611&key=user_uploads/3652354/2046e9de-2db6-47e8-91fc-651e31e5a834)\n\n**Mass Magnetics’ unfair advantage is sitting in end-of-life electric vehicles, hard drives, and industrial equipment.** The team uses AI models and robotics trained on real scrap to sort metallurgy by exact grade and chemistry. Then, a rapid-sintering process takes that reclaimed mass to a finished magnet in 3 minutes, where conventional approaches take over 4 hours. The result is a magnet as strong as anything imported, with no radioactive footprint or bureaucratic permitting, fully compliant for US defense.\n\n**If you build robots, drones or motors visit our site and reach out at [outreach@massmagnetics.com](mailto:outreach@massmagnetics.com) and get your magnets.**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=110611&key=user_uploads/3652354/797eff3c-6d9d-4ffc-894b-664aece1ba74)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Sm3-mass-magnetics-usa-made-magnets", "votes": 7, "created_at": "2026-08-18T14:30:00.079Z" } ] }, { "id": 32168, "name": "Synapse Semiconductor", "slug": "synapse-semiconductor", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/37650fbbc73ea1ea0b895fd819e93836825d1520.png", "website": "https://synapsesemi.org", "all_locations": "Durham, NC, USA", "long_description": "We want to push machines to where humans cant go. \r\nPresidential early career award winning Duke Semiconductor ECE Faculty Tania Roy and Sanjeev Chauhan are building a frontier semiconductor research lab. Their focus is on solving physical AI challenges from the semiconductor device level and building products around the moat of impossible to copy innovation. Their first work is on a new vision sensor that can run neural network filters right in the camera pixels and only collect data that machines care about. As physical AI develops, machines needs to understand the world around them if they aim to interact with them.\r\n", "one_liner": "New semiconductors that merge compute and vision", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials", "launched_at": 1785109099, "tags": [ "Edge Computing Semiconductors", "Hard Tech", "Robotics", "Defense", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/synapse-semiconductor", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/synapse-semiconductor.json", "year_founded": null, "city": "Durham", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/synapse-semiconductor/", "x_url": "https://x.com/SynapseSemi", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/37650fbbc73ea1ea0b895fd819e93836825d1520.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Tyler Bosmeny", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/tyler-bosmeny" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1383306, "full_name": "Sanjeev Chauhan", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "I like to break things and build things\n\n2 IEDM publications, 3 years Seed Stage VC, scaled deaplearning.com to 300k users, Stanford Linear Accelerator National Lab ML Researcher, IPAC 1st Author", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/sanjeev-one", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/ed6ba01db61837566ea4234d9d7ec34da6e0e4c1.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3682345, "full_name": "Tania Roy", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Academic by profession, entrepreneur by nature. Love to control the user interface to reality.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/tania-roy-ba272b24/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/22e5f2656b361e2b88271fcd468b9cc08d0ba91f.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 106484, "title": "Founding Engineer - RETINA", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/synapse-semiconductor/jobs/T7HUC4J-founding-engineer-retina", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US / Durham, NC, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Electrical", "salary_range": "$1M", "equity_range": "10.00%", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "Verilog", "VHDL", "Computer Vision" ] } ], "news": [ { "title": "Duke ECE Hardware Startup Selected for Y Combinator | Duke Pratt School of Engineering", "url": "https://pratt.duke.edu/news/synapse-semiconductor-y-combinator/", "date": "Jun 08, 2026" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 107691, "title": "Synapse Semiconductor: We put a neural network inside the camera pixel.", "tagline": "Semiconductors to push machines where humans cant go.", "body": "\n\n**TLDR:** Synapse Semiconductor builds image sensors that process **AI on the sensor** itself. Each pixel captures light and runs neural-network computation in the same device, replacing the need for a GPU while cutting the power and latency of edge vision.\\\n\\\n\\\nA camera has no use by itself. Its value is only when its information gets evaluated. How can a camera that only has value when combined with a GPU support local intelligence? GPUs will get better, yet the fundamental problem is the separation of the camera and the GPU. Solving that separation will unlock bountiful innovation in machine perception. \n\n**RETINA: a chip designed like the human retina which runs neural network operations in the camera pixel.** \n\n\\\nWe have compressed the whole edge AI vision hardware stack into **one wafer**. CNNS, VLMS, etc can run on just one chip that senses light. Our compute transistors are also the same photosensors that see light. There is no longer separation between compute (Nvidia Jetson Nano) and a camera (RealSense Depth Camera). \\\n\\\nIf you are building robotic perception, drones, and vision systems for physical AI —> [book.synapsesemi.org](http://book.synapsesemi.org)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=107691&key=user_uploads/1383306/bfa2012d-1c74-47b5-bdad-3127e94cd8bf)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/S0x-synapse-semiconductor-we-put-a-neural-network-inside-the-camera-pixel", "votes": 57, "created_at": "2026-07-27T03:40:58.979Z" } ] }, { "id": 32194, "name": "GUILD", "slug": "guild", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/efd3ccc04f842f9a3a1235ba1ef66aa4447fc993.png", "website": "https://www.guildai.co", "all_locations": "New York City, NY, USA", "long_description": "GUILD is an AI-Native Defense prime making aerospace parts faster and cheaper. 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Previously AI Tech Lead at Hartree Partners and ML Engineer at Morgan Stanley.\nMSc in Computer Science from Columbia, dual BSc in CS and Statistics from Duke.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaya-celebi", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/5b48b1bdd435cb7bc03969c64b95f41c522af52d.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3163115, "full_name": "Erim Gurlemis", "title": "Founder/COO", "founder_bio": "Founder at GUILD. Previously Associate in the Global Investment Office at Morgan Stanley, where he worked on wealth management development and engagement . BA in Biological Studies from Rutgers University.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/erim-gurlemis-b13b22204/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/f0c16bff7dc6fd5301ab5b66684588bf18413c9f.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 109739, "title": "GUILD - New Generation of Defense Contractor", "tagline": "Making aerospace and naval parts faster and cheaper for defense", "body": "Hey everyone 🙂 - we’re [@Kaya Celebi](https://bookface.ycombinator.com/user/3161464) and [@Erim Gurlemis](https://bookface.ycombinator.com/user/3163115) , co-founders of [@GUILD](https://bookface.ycombinator.com/company/32194) .\n\n**TL;DR**\n\n[@GUILD](https://bookface.ycombinator.com/company/32194) **is an AI-native defense contractor making aerospace parts faster and cheaper than today’s supply chain**. We win government contracts, turn technical requirements into production-ready workflows, and execute through factory integrations that eliminate the weeks normally lost between RFQ and factory floor. \n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=109739&key=user_uploads/3161464/3cf82073-c0e0-4c42-8d2b-d4fab3e159ca)\n\nWe’re building GUILD in two connected motions:\n\n* First, we win and execute government manufacturing contracts directly.\n* Second, we help defense hardware companies turn designs, technical packages, and supply-chain requirements into executable procurement and production workflows.\n\nIn both cases, the goal is the same: move from technical requirements to manufactured parts faster, with less cost and less operational drag.\n\n**THE PROBLEM**\n\nGovernment contracting is fragmented, overcomplicated, and inaccessible. That makes defense manufacturing slower and more expensive than it should be.\n\nThe government waits too long and pays too much for parts the country already knows how to make. Meanwhile, the supplier base is shrinking: DoW’s reported in 2023 that small-business participation in the defense industrial base has fallen by over 40% in the last decade.\n\n**Less competition means fewer options, higher prices, weaker supply chains, and more critical work stuck before it ever reaches a production floor.** \n\n**THE CAUSE**\n\nThe defense supply chain is not wired together. Government demand, technical requirements, manufacturer capability, financial markets, and execution data all live in different places, so every contract becomes a manual search problem - stuck in PDFs, portals, spreadsheets, and domain knowledge.\n\nThe hard part is not finding government opportunities. Anyone can have Claude build a scrape-bot for [SAM.gov](http://SAM.gov) and call it a pipeline. **The hard part is turning messy technical requirements into a manufacturing decision, then executing the work.**\n\nThis favors large incumbents who can throw teams of people at the problem. Smaller manufacturers usually cannot. They either spend weeks decoding the package, price in too much risk, miss the timing, or never enter the market at all.\n\n**OUR APPROACH**\n\n**GUILD is the prime contractor**, not a marketplace or lead-gen layer for manufacturers. We win government work directly. We break the technical package into the operational steps required to produce and deliver the part. Then we execute.\n\n**The core of this is our company brain: a structural ontology of defense manufacturing.**\n\nAI-native, to us, means the company documents and learns from its own execution. Every artifact around a contract - requirements, quotes, supplier interactions, decisions, awards, workflows, and deliveries - becomes structured memory. Our agents traverse that graph to understand what a part is, how it can be made, what it should cost, and what needs to happen next.\n\nThe company brain compounds. Every bid makes the next bid smarter. Every factory handoff improves the next handoff. Every delivery teaches the system what actually happened, not just what the plan said. That is what lets us move from document parsing to execution as the contractor responsible for the work.\n\n**WHAT WE’VE BUILT**\n\nWe’ve built the company brain that turns technical packages into executable manufacturing workflows. It ingests messy contract packages, understands the requirements, prices work against known factory capability, generates the production path, and keeps improving as new parts, factories, and outcomes enter the system.\n\nThis is not a hard-coded set of workflows. The system helps us build and refine new workflows as it observes more of the defense manufacturing knowledge space. GUILD Forge is the interface for this: a procurement and production planning system for defense companies that need to move from technical design to supply-chain execution.\n\n**WHAT WE MAKE**\n\nOur current focus is aerospace precision metals. That includes jet and engine components, structural and wing-adjacent parts, housings, brackets, fittings, retainers, and the simple but critical hardware that sits inside larger aerospace systems.\n\nThese parts are not always glamorous, but they are everywhere. When their supply chain is slow, expensive, or opaque, the larger programs above them slow down too.\n\n**THE TEAM**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=109739&key=user_uploads/3161464/9f3944e0-0a34-426b-a920-033542ce928f)\n\nKaya has an MS in Computer Science from Columbia and studied CS + Statistics at Duke. His background is in ML research, AI modernization, and quant work: he worked on AI modernization and quantitative systems at Morgan Stanley, and later led an AI team at hedge fund Hartree Partners. Coming into defense from the outside forced him to learn the industry from first principles and turn that learning into GUILD's technical architecture.\n\nErim studied Biological Sciences at Rutgers University, where he conducted research on metabolism before working in pharma consulting supporting oncology research. He then pivoted into finance at Morgan Stanley. There, he led full-scale AI implementation for Wealth Management & Advisory. At GUILD, he turns the messy reality of defense manufacturing, supplier coordination, pricing and execution into operating requirements our system can handle.\n\n**THE ASK**\n\nWe’d love intros to defense companies that need better access to procurement, people with government or program connections, and teams dealing with supply-chain pain around technical packages, suppliers, compliance, packaging, or delivery.\n\nWe’re especially interested in meeting defense hardware companies, aerospace manufacturers, primes, and manufacturers with end-to-end automation capability - the kind of partners where GUILD can integrate directly into the factory operating layer, not just send PDFs back and forth.\n\nEmail us at [founders@guildai.co](mailto:founder@guildai.co) or visit .\n\n\\-  Kaya + Erim 🧿", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/SXz-guild-new-generation-of-defense-contractor", "votes": 23, "created_at": "2026-08-08T17:00:00.905Z" } ] }, { "id": 32586, "name": "Greypoint Industries", "slug": "greypoint-industries", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/b0d5898f7b8fc2ee6fc19f6de3dae045123c7608.png", "website": "https://greypointindustries.com/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "We build LEGION, a drone swarm that identifies, geolocates, and tracks every emitter on the battlefield using the enemy’s own radio signals. LEGION enables our warfighters to precisely track previously obscured targets like jammers, command posts, and drone operators so they can proactively respond to threats instead of reacting to them.", "one_liner": "Building drone swarms that hunt hidden enemies.", "team_size": 4, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Defense", "launched_at": 1782765221, "tags": [ "Hardware", "Robotics", "Drones", "Defense" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Defense" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/greypoint-industries", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/greypoint-industries.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/greypoint-industries/?viewAsMember=true", "x_url": "https://x.com/Greypoint_", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/b0d5898f7b8fc2ee6fc19f6de3dae045123c7608.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Tyler Bosmeny", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/tyler-bosmeny" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 3676390, "full_name": "Darcy Zhang", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Co-Founder at Greypoint Industries.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/darcy-zhang-021134243/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/5337a388dc0b683be08ad652cef050e1fd9af004.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3676391, "full_name": "Nic Chu", "title": "Founder/COO", "founder_bio": "Co-Founder at Greypoint Industries.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicchu/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/2c6aa1d0091b93ae6f6641c720d544f1c7126a60.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3558298, "full_name": "Jordan Khoo", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Co-Founder at Greypoint Industries. Previously led project with autonomous loitering munition project with Lockheed Martin Skunkworks.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordankh00/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/2363824c9001ce22d79d36c04d0ab6555b86edfa.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3676397, "full_name": "Steven Xu", "title": "Founder/CPO", "founder_bio": "Co-Founder at Greypoint Industries. Previously at Bosch Quantum Sensing building satellite sensors. Led research project on detection of UAVs using passive radar. Presidential Scholar at UBC.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/sxu22/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/9cffa849cc769fd0df23fe0a5e3b4c24fb8e7736.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 108367, "title": "Greypoint Industries: Drone swarms that find drone operators", "tagline": "Greypoint Industries builds drone swarms that find enemy drone operators on the battlefield.", "body": "[Greypoint Industries (YC S26) Launch Video](https://youtu.be/y9jC4A7Fg04)\n\nGreypoint Industries builds drone swarms that find enemy drone operators on the battlefield.\n\nOver 70% of casualties in Ukraine come from drones. The entire defense space is focused on building interceptors to shoot them down. While they’re treating the symptom, we’re going after the root cause: the drone stations. They’re hidden in bunkers, behind terrain, and fly the drones that kill our warfighters and civilians. Today, soldiers have no way to reliably geolocate operators on the battlefield.\n\nGreypoint Industries built LEGION, a drone swarm that identifies, geolocates, and tracks every emitter on the battlefield using the enemy’s own radio signals. LEGION enables our warfighters to precisely track previously obscured targets like jammers, command posts, and drone operators so they can proactively respond to threats instead of reacting to them.\n\nGreypoint has just won a contract with the Canadian Government, demoed with the Armed Forces, and successfully geolocated a target using their aerial platform. The founding team brings experience from the Canadian Infantry, General Dynamics, Bosch Quantum Sensing, and TerraSense Analytics.\n\nDefend the West. Deploy Greypoint.\\\n\\\nFind out more at .", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/SBr-greypoint-industries-drone-swarms-that-find-drone-operators", "votes": 10, "created_at": "2026-07-30T23:00:42.765Z" } ] }, { "id": 33319, "name": "Vernius Systems, Inc.", "slug": "vernius-systems-inc", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/b6b4e6b2f945df4b3400a22fc1d287a788bc4215.png", "website": "https://www.vernius.systems", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "We make mass-deployable radars for unmanned systems. Our first product is Archimedes, a radar seeker that finds and locks onto targets, enabling autonomous intercept on any drone. We have over $580M in LOIs for Archimedes, across some of the largest defense primes in Ukraine, the EU, and the Middle East.\r\n\r\nSeekers are the most critical and costly component in every autonomous interceptor. Developing a radar seeker takes a 200+ person team at Raytheon and hundreds of millions of dollars. Archimedes is 100x cheaper than existing radar seekers on the market - and is the first product to make it feasible to deploy radars on every drone.", "one_liner": "Mass-deployable radars for air defense", "team_size": 3, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Defense", "launched_at": 1786812946, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Drones", "Radar", "Aerospace", "Defense" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Defense" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/vernius-systems-inc", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/vernius-systems-inc.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:ugcPost:7497551262893383680/", "x_url": "https://x.com/Arthur_NC_/status/2091903458748375240", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/b6b4e6b2f945df4b3400a22fc1d287a788bc4215.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Brad Flora", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/brad-flora" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 366617, "full_name": "Arthur Nguyen-cao", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Founder & CEO of Vernius Systems. 6+ years RF PCB engineering.\n\nLead 14 engineers at Defense Tech for Ukraine to develop FPV drone systems now fielded by Ukrainian units. Co-founded Auctify (raised $250K, featured in The Verge), where we built the world's first AI smart glasses. Developed the $2.6B USAF B-52 Commercial Engine Replacement Program proposal at Pratt & Whitney. Hobbies include computational fluid dynamics, rocketry, and civil aviation.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/arthur-nguyen-cao-690847146/", "x_url": "https://x.com/Arthur_NC_", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/4373c5af412b516a25bd9d3afc5678c56a348e2e.jpg" }, { "user_id": 372571, "full_name": "Hisham El-Halabi", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Founder at Vernius Systems. Previously founding engineer at Suave Money (HF0, Orange DAO-backed), building a non-custodial P2P fiat-to-crypto marketplace used by hundreds of thousands and adopted by YC startups Shor and Kontigo. Co-founder/CTO at Auctify, raising $77K in presales and pivoting to Sano AI calorie tracker (30K users, $2.5K MRR, $250K raised). BEng Engineering Science, University of Toronto.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/hisham-el-halabi-001/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/cd887780cb538a001e6e2bb72deb018117b59f82.jpg" }, { "user_id": 409168, "full_name": "Joe Gonzalez", "title": "Founder/COO", "founder_bio": "CoFounder at Vernius Systems. Serial founder: built Plucky Labs (backend-as-a-service for AI chat), XP Protocol (scaled to 200K+ users, 50K+ MAU), and Huddln (venture-backed Web3 startup). Previously Solutions Architect at Sandia National Labs under Q clearance, architecting secure comms for US Navy Tomahawk fleet. BS Computer Engineering, Sacramento State.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/jge-2a7937115/", "x_url": "https://x.com/joegonzalez0886?s=11", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/677db7a1244f2604393fb1cc01f838806ea6304f.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 111262, "title": "Radar PCB Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/vernius-systems-inc/jobs/g2rbXLu-radar-pcb-engineer", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US / San Jose, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Electrical", "salary_range": "$150K - $350K", "equity_range": "1.00% - 3.00%", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "PCB design", "Altium" ] } ], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 111298, "title": "Vernius Systems - Autonomous radar guidance for interceptor drones", "tagline": "Radar for interceptor drones", "body": "[**Vernius Systems**](https://www.linkedin.com/company/vernius-systems-inc/posts/?feedView=all)\n\n**TL:DR;** Vernius builds radar seekers that turn any drone into a fully autonomous interceptor. We build and test on the frontlines with operators, under real conditions. Because of this, we’ve secured **$500M** in LOIs for 2027 from top defense manufacturers and elite military units across the US, EU, and Ukraine.\\\n\\\n[https://drive.google.com/file/d/191oElqMvXaizOijw1ZN2aTY3ckYOGfVC](https://drive.google.com/file/d/191oElqMvXaizOijw1ZN2aTY3ckYOGfVC/view?usp=sharing)\n\n**Backed By:**\n\nOur early investors include the **former U.S. National Security Advisor** (LTG HR McMaster), the **Chief Engineer behind VBAT, Shield AI’s flagship product** (Austin Howard), and **world renowned Ukrainian Military analyst** (Rob Lee).\n\n**Problem:** \n\n99% of interceptors on the battlefield still require a pilot for manual guidance. Jet powered attack drones deployed by our adversaries have become too fast to intercept manually, and now account for over **50% of all attack drones**. Autonomous solutions, like the Patriot class missiles, cost $4M per shot.\n\n**Solution:**\n\nWe build a radar that turns any drone into a fully autonomous interceptor, reducing the cost per kill from **$4M to less than $4K**.\n\n**About us:** \n\nWe bring over a decade of RF PCB engineering experience. We've built critical software for the US Navy Tomahawk missile fleet, satellites in low Earth orbit, and FPV hardware fielded by frontline operators.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=111298&key=user_uploads/409168/e627de41-d230-4320-80bb-90173e045879)\n\n**Left to right:** [Hisham El-Halabi](https://www.linkedin.com/in/hisham-el-halabi-001/), [Joe Gonzalez](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jge-2a7937115/), [Arthur Nguyen-cao](https://www.linkedin.com/in/arthur-nguyen-cao-690847146/)\n\n**Ask:**\n\nIf you’re developing interceptors (or you know someone developing them), we would love to chat.", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Sx8-vernius-systems-autonomous-radar-guidance-for-interceptor-drones", "votes": 10, "created_at": "2026-08-24T15:00:00.720Z" } ] }, { "id": 33408, "name": "Salem Robotics Inc", "slug": "salem-robotics-inc", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/fbf386dc8fa91340ed1cce1b80613f66e88ee12d.png", "website": "https://salemroboticsinc.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Our software turns any robot we deploy into an everyday independent worker at your facility. They are able to walk sites, handle instruments, overcome obstacles, collect measurements, and generate auditable compliance records, replacing hours of mandatory manual surveys and inspections. Built by Los Alamos robotics veterans and deterministic-manipulation researchers, we started in nuclear and are already expanding to other hazardous industries.", "one_liner": "Deploying robots to replace workers in hazardous spaces", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Manufacturing and Robotics", "launched_at": 1783052221, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Robotics", "Energy", "Defense", "Industrial" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Manufacturing and Robotics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/salem-robotics-inc", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/salem-robotics-inc.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/salem-robotics/", "x_url": "https://x.com/salemroboticshq", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/fbf386dc8fa91340ed1cce1b80613f66e88ee12d.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/4593ea24a36e629876ca1a48e9e7db1a683530c2.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Jon Xu", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/jon-xu" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 3403013, "full_name": "Caleb Horan", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder and CEO at Salem Robotics. Previously a published robotics PhD student at UT Austin, developing task planning for autonomous systems. NRC Fellow. Deployed multi-robot teams at Los Alamos National Laboratory's Plutonium Division. MS in Robotics from UT Austin.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/caleb-horan", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/e7cff240bcb1484bcdff91bb1419d9c25f3162cf.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3208433, "full_name": "Janak (Crasun) Panthi", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder and CTO at Salem Robotics Inc. PhD in Robotics from UT Austin (Dec. 2026). 6 yrs industry experience leading product development and deploying quadruped robots in nuclear facilities. US Army.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/janak-panthi", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/19b6a7b10bbd6739abbb938281eb9c068eebf9c0.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 108976, "title": "Salem Robotics - Autonomous robots for hazardous spaces", "tagline": "We deploy robots to perform autonomous inspections and surveys in hazardous spaces, like nuclear. ", "body": "We're [Caleb](https://www.linkedin.com/in/caleb-horan) and [Janak](https://www.linkedin.com/in/janak-panthi), PhD roboticists from UT Austin. We've spent a combined 15 years in nuclear, 10 of which deploying autonomous robots at Los Alamos National Lab, and we're building Salem Robotics.\\\n**TLDR:** Our software turns robots into independent survey and inspection workers at your facility.\n\n[Launch Video](https://youtu.be/7xObOE6knZM)\n\n## **Life and death pain worth $Millions/year**\n\nAt every nuclear facility, highly trained radiation-protection teams spend hours each day walking the site, filling out hand-drawn maps, and searching for something life-threatening: radiation. IN THE BEST CASE they find nothing, and still have to return to their posts to transcribe the data into a computer before doing the actual high-value work they were assigned. These surveys are time-consuming, dangerous, expensive, and prone to data inconsistencies that carry direct regulatory consequences.\n\nThe same pain exists well beyond nuclear. Whether it's gas-leak inspection or ammonia surveys, similar workflows run across oil, gas, chemical, biological, space, and other hazardous facilities.\n\n## **What we do**\n\nAn operator defines the work from a simple dashboard; the robot then navigates the site, handles instruments, opens doors, turns valves, collects measurements, and generates structured, auditable, compliance-ready reports. We're hardware-agnostic, so plants run our software on robots they already own, many of which sit in a closet today as \"$200k paperweights, \" or we can provide the right robot for the job. Our stack is designed for safety-critical infrastructure and comes with theoretical safety guarantees, exactly what regulators and plant leadership require. Our core manipulation framework was not possible before and is based on **breakthrough founder research** published and presented at the most prestigious IEEE journals and conferences in the world. \n\nWe're already in active contract-scoping conversations across the nuclear industry and oil & gas.\n\n**Our asks**\n\n* Intros to operations or innovation leaders in nuclear or similar hazardous sites (oil, gas, chem, bio, space).\n* Advice from founders who've sold into safety-critical industrial environments.\n* Sites where routine surveys are frequent, hard to staff, or particularly painful? We'd love to hear about them.\n\nComments, Emails, and DMs welcome. \\\n[Engage@salemroboticsinc.com](mailto:Engage@salemroboticsinc.com)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/SLg-salem-robotics-autonomous-robots-for-hazardous-spaces", "votes": 29, "created_at": "2026-08-04T19:00:03.963Z" } ] }, { "id": 34696, "name": "ChemPilot.ai", "slug": "chempilotai", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/4c3f8543148c3a53ebe369d21ece622228018917.png", "website": "https://chempilot.ai/", "all_locations": "Haifa, Haifa District, Israel", "long_description": "We use AI and quantum-based simulations to discover and develop new materials for defense and dual-use applications, from energetics and propellants to carbon fibers, polymers, coatings and composites. Developing a new material today takes 10+ years of trial-and-error lab work. We compress that to months, using physics-based simulation, machine learning and AI agents that only send labs candidates that can actually be made.\r\n\r\nSam, Ofir and Maor have spent the past two years researching the discovery of these exact materials together at the Technion lab of our CSO, Prof. Alon Grinberg Dana (former MIT postdoc), working directly with defense primes and government R&D agencies. Together we bring deep expertise in chemical engineering, computational chemistry and AI, and the production systems to put them to work. ChemPilot spun out of that work.\r\n\r\nThe defense and dual-use industrial base runs on materials with fragile, sole-source and often adversarial supply chains, from energetics and propellants to carbon fibers, high-temperature composites and specialty polymers. Demand for new capabilities is surging, and materials take decades to develop. The West needs new materials it can make securely, fast and cheap - ChemPilot will help find and develop them.", "one_liner": "Discover novel defense related materials/molecules.", "team_size": 3, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Defense", "launched_at": 1791753586, "tags": [ "Machine Learning", "Advanced Materials", "Defense" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Fall 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Defense" ], "regions": [ "Israel", "Middle East and North Africa" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/chempilotai", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/fall-2026/chempilotai.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "Haifa", "country": "IL", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/4c3f8543148c3a53ebe369d21ece622228018917.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Aaron Epstein", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/aaron-epstein" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 4000868, "full_name": "Sam Cogan", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Founder at ChemPilot.ai. MSc in Biochemical Engineering from Technion. Love competing, both in business and in any sport.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-cogan-16435916b/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/52cee213d8d6c3ed123701998ac0813c86155160.jpg" }, { "user_id": 4006886, "full_name": "Maor Goldman", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Founder at ChemPilot.ai | Ethical Hacker | BS Computer Engineering from Technion | Served in 8200 ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/maor-goldman-03b43a119/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/cfb6b71947255e63c3da4ad31df3bcdb630bad8a.jpg" }, { "user_id": 4003220, "full_name": "Ofir Simhi", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Founder and CTO at ChemPilot.ai. Previously a full-stack developer, one of the first developers in an acquired startup (Skiff, acquired by Notion), and a main developer in another acquired startup (StoreMaven, acquired by Zynga). \nBSc. in Biochemical Engineering.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/ofir-simhi-b8098a196/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/a3d87d13345612a8a48e34155eb8d933ed91977a.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 35025, "name": "Inflection Space Systems", "slug": "inflection-space-systems", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/9391545f5f098175eca1fe35fba695db3a2e0766.png", "website": "https://inflection-space.com/", "all_locations": "Los Angeles, CA, USA", "long_description": "Inflection is building the industrial capacity to manufacture tens of thousands of spacecraft per year for next generation commercial and government space applications. Imagine a factory that looks like an Amazon fulfillment center instead of a NASA clean room.", "one_liner": "Hyperscaling space manufacturing", "team_size": null, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Aviation and Space", "launched_at": 1789683191, "tags": [ "Satellites", "Manufacturing", "Defense" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Fall 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Aviation and Space" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/inflection-space-systems", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/fall-2026/inflection-space-systems.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "Los Angeles", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/inflection-space/", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/9391545f5f098175eca1fe35fba695db3a2e0766.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Grey Baker", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/grey-baker" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2135107, "full_name": "Alex Lisso", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder of Inflection Space Systems. Background in spacecraft engineering spanning design, manufacturing, test, and operations. LEO, GEO, and Lunar orbits. Millennium Space Systems, Rocket Lab, Planet Labs, and Interlune.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-lisso-1bbb99b8", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/6c8ade6ac64de453d61f765a8bc2f1038f4e8e99.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2951855, "full_name": "Matt Hanley", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Matt is the co-founder and CTO of Inflection Space Systems. \n\nBefore Inflection, Matt was at Loft Orbital helping them scale up their satellite integration and test by implementing new technologies and automation. Before that, he spent 4 years at Rocket Lab building out their space systems division, most notably shepherding the Lunar Photon spacecraft to the Moon. \n\nMatt holds a BS and MS degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewdhanley/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/653a11856978788cdb05d518409fc3503bec6de3.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 121642, "title": "Inflection Space Systems - Hyperscaling Spacecraft Manufacturing (>10,000/year)", "tagline": "Inflection Space Systems is mass manufacturing standardized spacecraft, and will manufacture 10,000 spacecraft per year by 2031.", "body": "**TL;DR: Mass manufacturing spacecraft using robots and terrestrial parts**\n\n\n\nAt Inflection we are developing the industrial capacity to manufacture tens of thousands of spacecraft per year. Imagine a factory that looks more like an Amazon fulfillment center than a NASA-style clean room.\n\n**The Problem**\n\nThere is a massive disparity between (1) humanity’s plans for space and (2) the manufacturing reality in the space sector. **The human race has made about 30,000 spacecraft, _ever_**. Next-gen space constellations like orbital data centers, Golden Dome, lunar infrastructure, and global D2D connectivity will **require _hundreds of thousands_ of spacecraft** to become reality. There are actual FCC filings for over 1M spacecraft. **Inflection was founded to bridge this 970,000-spacecraft gap.**\n\n**What We’re Doing**\n\n1. **Immediate vertical integration** of the entire spacecraft hardware and software stack. We are designing everything in-house, to ensure all parts are designed for low-cost and high-volume manufacturing. We’ve already built >50% of the stack, including our own flight software and ground software.\n2. **Automating everything.** Now is a great time to build processes, both digital and physical, that use AI and automation. Everything in our factory from supply chain management to metal cutting to testing will be AI-native and will utilize industrial robotics.\n3. **Going to space!** We have booked our first launch for Q1 2028 and are actively booking payload customers.\n\n**Who we are**\n\nAlex and Matt have spent their entire careers designing, building, and operating spacecraft (Rocket Lab, Millennium Space Systems, Planet Labs, and Loft Orbital). They’ve conducted classified government missions (REDACTED), facilitated in-space manufacturing (with Varda), and even sent something to the Moon (Lunar Photon). We have first hand experience with how slow, expensive, and antiquated manufacturing is in the space sector, and we’re going to fix it.\n\n**Our asks**\n\n* **Reach out to us** if you are looking to get something into space or develop a space-based \n* **Hiring.** We are recruiting founding engineers, business development professionals, and manufacturing experts. If you know anyone amazing, please send them our way.\n* **Contact**: [**alex@inflection-space.com**](mailto:alex@inflection-space.com)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Vdy-inflection-space-systems-hyperscaling-spacecraft-manufacturing-10-000-year", "votes": 3, "created_at": "2026-10-13T15:00:00.132Z" } ] }, { "id": 36081, "name": "Polemos Industries", "slug": "polemos-industries", "former_names": [ "Lokberg Industries" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/52d6be23c1a08e2020010a26b5bd336554572d38.png", "website": "https://lokberg.com/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Precision strike is rationed. Forces see more targets than they can afford to hit.\r\n\r\nPolemos builds AI-guided ballistic missiles and the compact launchers that fire them, designed for mass manufacturing. Our launchers form a strike network wired into the recon drones already in the sky: a drone geolocates a target, the nearest launcher fires, and a guided round lands in seconds.\r\n\r\nShort range, no wasted kilometers, no modified trucks. Built on production lines that already exist, so output scales when it matters most.", "one_liner": "AI-guided ballistic missiles, cheap enough to field in numbers that…", "team_size": 3, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Defense", "launched_at": 1791838393, "tags": [ "Defense", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Fall 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Defense" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/polemos-industries", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/fall-2026/polemos-industries.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/52d6be23c1a08e2020010a26b5bd336554572d38.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Harj Taggar", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/harj-taggar" }, "founders": [], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 38589, "name": "Keres", "slug": "keres", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/d410d4ceb3965f8c5b5e653e10007865ff03aaf9.png", "website": "https://www.keresaero.com/", "all_locations": "Denver, CO, USA", "long_description": "Keres (KAIR-eez) builds reusable unmanned jet interceptors for air defense. The Garmur launches on cue, closes at jet speed, positively identifies and kills drones and cruise missiles, then lands to fly again. It gives commanders a fighter-class response at a fraction of the cost.", "one_liner": "Kill the drone, keep the jet. Reusable unmanned interceptors.", "team_size": 3, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Defense", "launched_at": 1791171647, "tags": [ "Airplanes", "Aerospace", "Defense" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Fall 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Defense" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/keres", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/fall-2026/keres.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "Denver", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/d410d4ceb3965f8c5b5e653e10007865ff03aaf9.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Pete Koomen", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/pete-koomen" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 4191532, "full_name": "Christopher Palazzolo", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder/CTO at Keres (YC F26). Previously Head of Operations at H3X Technologies. Spent 4+ years at Boom Supersonic, rising from Aircraft Technician to Director of Aircraft and Production Operations for the XB-1 supersonic demonstrator. Led avionics, flight test, and manufacturing. BS in Mechanical Engineering from Oakland University.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/cjpalazzolo/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/eaec462025ae167d9bbb41d77ac9fac1a28f97be.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] } ]