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On February 18 , 2024 , Ian Laffeypostedon X that he and two others he ’d just met built a cheap radio-controlled aircraft at a hackathon that calculated its co-ordinate simply by using its camera and Google Maps . He and his colleagues , Sacha Lévy and Carl Schoeller , were all engine driver under the geezerhood of 25 .
we designed , 3d print and built a < $ 500 drone with that calculates GPS co-ordinate without a sign using a camera + google mapsin 24hpic.twitter.com/8P2QoQMNbW
The tech had absolved electric potential to battle rearing Global Positioning System jam of monotone in Ukraine . Instead of GPS , drone operators there have to employ high - tech goggles to guide their drones by slew . But that lead to lots of problems , specially under wretched condition like thick fog or at dark .
At the destruction of the hackathon , Schoeller bid his two teammates well and take off , hoping their paths might cross again .
But the tweet went viral and changed their lives . A day afterward , the three decided to give to Y Combinator , successfully getting into itsSpring 2024 cohort .
Now , their San Francisco - based ship’s company , Theseus , has just raised $ 4.3 million in source funding in a bout led by First Round Capital , with extra backing from Y Combinator and Lux Capital , it exclusively told TechCrunch .
Theseus join a tidy sum of other drone - related startups . There ’s Skydio , which rivet on replace Chinese drones for U.S. law enforcement and waslast valued at $ 2.2 billion in 2023 . Shield AI , which build reconnaissance drones , recentlyraised at a $ 5.3 billion evaluation . The biggest defense technical school player , Anduril , launchedits own small laggard last class , and is reportedly in talksto raise at a $ 28 billion valuation .
Theseus tell it does n’t establish pilotless aircraft , but centre on the hardware constituent and software that will enable pretty much any military poke to fly remote-controlled without GPS . Schoeller , Theseus ’ chief executive officer , tell TechCrunch the company does n’t build targeting system of rules . Its software is not deciding whether a certain spot is a legitimate military target or not — the solitary nidus is capture a drone from point A to B.
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Theseus has n’t won any U.S. military mountain yet , and has n’t been deployed in an factual battlefield . So it ’s using its fresh capital to focus on further building out its technical school , hiringfor three technology roles .
However , the viral hackathon tweet did get Theseus noticed by U.S. Special Forces , which has entered into an agreement for early testing and development . Theseus articulate it lately went to a hole-and-corner Special Forces al-Qaeda to try out its latest scheme , sending TechCrunch a photo of it in action mechanism .
Overall , start a company with hoi polloi you ’ve known for under a calendar week “ in general is n’t advised , ” but in Theseus ’ event , it warranted the leap of faith , Schoellerwroteon LinkedIn .
