Drone startup Neros raises funding from Sequoia, eyes supplies to Ukraine, US military By Reuters

By Crystal Ho

(Reuters) – Niros, a self-driving drone startup founded about a year ago, said it has raised $10.9 million in a seed round from Sequoia Capital to build a new factory and manufacture more drones for sale to Ukraine.

Niros joins a string of US drone companies trying to capitalize on the massive demand for drones in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, where thousands of unmanned aerial vehicles have been deployed on an unprecedented scale to track enemy forces and direct artillery and bomb targets.

Niros, founded by former professional drone racers Soren Munro Andersson and Olaf Heczwa, said it designed, manufactured and shipped drones to the battlefield in Ukraine within months of launching the company.

It currently produces hundreds of drones per month, and plans to use the funding to staff and expand production.

Niros competes with Chinese drone makers who currently dominate the Ukrainian market with cheaper prices. With its systems priced at low numbers, Niros said it aims to be cost-effective while using non-Chinese supply chains.

The company said it is also in talks with the US Department of Defense about using its vehicles in the Army, Air Force and Special Forces.

“What we really want is a cost-effective product that serves Ukraine and the Department of Defense combined, and no one has achieved that yet,” Niros CEO Monroe Anderson said in an interview.

The deal also represents Sequoia Capital's continued bet on defense technology, a sector it first joined other Silicon Valley venture capital firms in investing in last year.

“I believe Niros is truly the best design in the world in its class,” said Sean Maguire, the Siqua partner who led the deal.

“The next step is to buy into a more skilled supply chain, with as much as possible from American suppliers and all from Western suppliers.”