[ { "id": 1684, "name": "Zendar", "slug": "zendar", "former_names": [ "Aperture Synthesis Inc. " ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/8e99074d8ec6a536a46c9e9d49930a0170197bb1.png", "website": "http://www.zendar.io", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA; Berkeley, CA, USA", "long_description": "Zendar develops high-definition radar for autonomous vehicles.", "one_liner": "We make high definition radar allowing self-driving cars to see in…", "team_size": 45, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Automotive", "launched_at": 1495669827, "tags": [ "Hardware", "Radar", "Automotive" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2017", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Automotive" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Growth", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/zendar", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2017/zendar.json", "year_founded": 2017, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/zendar", "github_url": "https://github.com/ZendarInc", "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/8e99074d8ec6a536a46c9e9d49930a0170197bb1.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 80788, "full_name": "Vinayak Nagpal", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": null, "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinayak-nagpal-45087b/", "x_url": null, "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/4b0f5e87eb73f1212501386458f5ba2567b9bf4d.jpg" }, { "user_id": 194343, "full_name": "Jimmy Wang", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": null, "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmy-wang-9186a39/", "x_url": null, "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/7fcfab6bfb29dcb5632bc5ab4e90c5648c88ac71.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 12623, "name": "Lumineye", "slug": "lumineye", "former_names": [ "Lumineye Inc." ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/59a9a3f24545bb8e877588ab5137c5940b7dcdf0.png", "website": "https://www.lumineye.com", "all_locations": "Boise, ID, USA", "long_description": "We build portable, tactical, through-wall radar sensors to help first responders and soldiers detect and track people through walls. ", "one_liner": "X-ray Vision for First Responders ", "team_size": 10, "industry": "Government", "subindustry": "Government", "launched_at": 1556676263, "tags": [ "Hardware", "GovTech", "Radar" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2019", "status": "Inactive", "industries": [ "Government" ], "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/lumineye", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2019/lumineye.json", "year_founded": 2017, "city": "Boise", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/lumineye-inc/", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/59a9a3f24545bb8e877588ab5137c5940b7dcdf0.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 188929, "full_name": "Robert Kleffner", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Lumineye co-founder, programming & constructed language enthusiast, peakbagging junkie", "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-kleffner-051289a4/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/30381ed10c6231698e387e198e4f7aa9bceaacbc.jpg" }, { "user_id": 194580, "full_name": "Megan Lacy", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "I am the co-founder of Lumineye and active board member. I served as the CEO for several years before stepping into a board member/advisory role in August 2023. \n\nWhen I'm not working on Lumineye, I'm probably outside. I represented Team USA on the 2021 World Championship Mountain Running Team and qualified for the Olympic Trials in the marathon while in our YC Batch. I also put on several races and own two local run specialty stores in Boise, ID where I live. ", "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/lacymegan/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/1824a5d5e27dc591e1da7e7b1910ce9d39f07499.jpg" }, { "user_id": 189735, "full_name": "Corbin Hennen", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "", "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/corbinhennen/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/ca023ca984cee7de5c6d31daaa5e1cdf4ae5cb03.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "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" } ] } ]