Swarmer raises $15M — Record for Ukrainian Defense Tech
Ukrainian-founded startup Swarmer, which develops AI solutions for managing drone swarms, has raised $15 million in Series A funding. This marks the largest investment in a Ukrainian defense technology company since the start of the war. The round was led by Broadband Capital Investments, with participation from R-G.AI, D3 Ventures, Green Flag Ventures, Radius Capital, and Ukrainian-American Network VC.
What’s Known
- Swarmer’s technology enables groups of drones to perform missions autonomously, turning human-defined targets into coordinated actions.
- The fresh capital will go toward scaling operations.
«Our software has proven its effectiveness in combat conditions during tens of thousands of missions,» said Serhii Kupriienko, co-founder and CEO of Swarmer.
«This funding allows us to scale and deliver advanced swarm capabilities to every unmanned aerial vehicle in Ukraine and NATO countries. Western democracies should be able to deploy as many drones and robots as they can produce, not be constrained by the number of trained pilots.»
- Interestingly, Swarmer announced its previous $2.7 million round exactly one year ago, on September 16, 2024. That round was led by US-based defense tech company R-G.AI, with participation from Radius Capital, Green Flag Ventures, and D3 — the same group of backers who returned this year.
- Before that, Swarmer also received an investment from D3, though the amount has not been disclosed. The fund typically invests around $125,000 per deal. The startup additionally secured a 2 million UAH grant from Brave1.
About Swarmer
- Founded in May 2023 by Serhii Kupriienko and Alex Fink, Swarmer develops Styx AI software, which enables operators to control multiple drones as a coordinated group. The operator simply selects a target and authorizes engagement, while the system manages the swarm.
- The company has already demonstrated swarms of up to 25 drones operating in GNSS-denied environments. In the near future, Swarmer plans to showcase joint combat operations with more than 100 drones of different types, integrating UAS (unmanned aerial systems), USV (unmanned surface vehicles), UGV (unmanned ground vehicles), and stationary launchers into a single, coordinated swarm that functions like one organism.
- Currently, Swarmer offers a hardware-agnostic software solution that works across multiple platforms. Using data from over 82,000 of its own combat missions — and millions more from external sources — the system is trained to reproduce the skills of top pilots and make accurate tactical decisions in real time.
«Swarmer’s rapid pace of innovation is driven by real-world combat experience, allowing them to advance AI and autonomy systems faster than traditional defense companies,» said Michael Rapp, managing partner at Broadband Capital Investments.
«With the global growth of drone production, Swarmer’s hardware-agnostic approach positions it as the best software layer for the next generation of autonomous systems.»
While defense remains its core focus, Swarmer sees strong potential in the civilian sector as well. Its platform could be applied to:
- Precision agriculture
- Emergency response
- Infrastructure inspection
- Environmental monitoring
By remaining hardware-agnostic, Swarmer aims to position itself as a defense powerhouse and a key enabler of the next wave of civilian autonomous systems.
Swarmer raises $15M — Record for Ukrainian Defense Tech
Ukrainian-founded startup Swarmer, which develops AI solutions for managing drone swarms, has raised $15 million in Series A funding. This marks the largest investment in a Ukrainian defense technology company since the start of the war. The round was led by Broadband Capital Investments, with participation from R-G.AI, D3 Ventures, Green Flag Ventures, Radius Capital, and Ukrainian-American Network VC.
What’s Known
- Swarmer’s technology enables groups of drones to perform missions autonomously, turning human-defined targets into coordinated actions.
- The fresh capital will go toward scaling operations.
«Our software has proven its effectiveness in combat conditions during tens of thousands of missions,» said Serhii Kupriienko, co-founder and CEO of Swarmer.
«This funding allows us to scale and deliver advanced swarm capabilities to every unmanned aerial vehicle in Ukraine and NATO countries. Western democracies should be able to deploy as many drones and robots as they can produce, not be constrained by the number of trained pilots.»
- Interestingly, Swarmer announced its previous $2.7 million round exactly one year ago, on September 16, 2024. That round was led by US-based defense tech company R-G.AI, with participation from Radius Capital, Green Flag Ventures, and D3 — the same group of backers who returned this year.
- Before that, Swarmer also received an investment from D3, though the amount has not been disclosed. The fund typically invests around $125,000 per deal. The startup additionally secured a 2 million UAH grant from Brave1.
About Swarmer
- Founded in May 2023 by Serhii Kupriienko and Alex Fink, Swarmer develops Styx AI software, which enables operators to control multiple drones as a coordinated group. The operator simply selects a target and authorizes engagement, while the system manages the swarm.
- The company has already demonstrated swarms of up to 25 drones operating in GNSS-denied environments. In the near future, Swarmer plans to showcase joint combat operations with more than 100 drones of different types, integrating UAS (unmanned aerial systems), USV (unmanned surface vehicles), UGV (unmanned ground vehicles), and stationary launchers into a single, coordinated swarm that functions like one organism.
- Currently, Swarmer offers a hardware-agnostic software solution that works across multiple platforms. Using data from over 82,000 of its own combat missions — and millions more from external sources — the system is trained to reproduce the skills of top pilots and make accurate tactical decisions in real time.
«Swarmer’s rapid pace of innovation is driven by real-world combat experience, allowing them to advance AI and autonomy systems faster than traditional defense companies,» said Michael Rapp, managing partner at Broadband Capital Investments.
«With the global growth of drone production, Swarmer’s hardware-agnostic approach positions it as the best software layer for the next generation of autonomous systems.»
While defense remains its core focus, Swarmer sees strong potential in the civilian sector as well. Its platform could be applied to:
- Precision agriculture
- Emergency response
- Infrastructure inspection
- Environmental monitoring
By remaining hardware-agnostic, Swarmer aims to position itself as a defense powerhouse and a key enabler of the next wave of civilian autonomous systems.
