Anti-drone laser systems developer Aurelius Systems recently announced the close of a $10 million seed round co-led by General Catalyst and Draper Associates. This funding will enable Aurelius to scale operations and accelerate development of its next-gen laser platform, designed to safeguard critical infrastructure and frontline forces from rapidly evolving UAS threats.
Unified Solution
As small drones become a global threat, Aurelius laser system identifies, tracks, and eliminates drones in real time. The entire system, including its autonomy stack, advanced optics, and directed energy source, is integrated into a single compact unit.
“Michael and John are tackling one of the toughest challenges in defense with speed, ingenuity, and precision,” said Paul Kwan, Managing Director at General Catalyst. “Aurelius is developing the affordable, adaptable defense layer the modern battlefield urgently needs.”
“The nature of warfare has changed with the escalation ladder in both Ukraine and the Middle East, and that is now universally acknowledged to be the mass adoption of one-way loitering munition drones. In any future global conflict, whether in the South China Seas with Taiwan, or in Europe in the frontline NATO countries, we believe Aurelius’s autonomous laser solution will be crucial in keeping America and its allies safe,” said Tyrone Lee, venture partner at Draper Associates.
Future Partnership
General Catalyst and Draper Associates hope to bring strategic support and technical insight to Aurelius as part of a commitment to US defense. Both firms view directed energy as a critical future technology.
“It’s clear the US and our allies are extremely under-prepared for this new era of drone warfare. We started Aurelius Systems to deliver to the world the first series of mass produced laser weapons systems.” said Michael Laframboise, CEO of Aurelius Systems.
More information about Aurelius Systems is available here. More information about General Catalyst and Draper Associates is available from their websites.
About Aurelius
Aurelius Systems is developing autonomous laser weapons to counter modern drone threats. Based in San Francisco, the company fuses advanced optics, AI-guided tracking, and high-powered directed energy into a compact platform that can eliminate low-cost drones for a fraction of the cost of traditional systems. Aurelius is accelerating the deployment of practical, scalable, and field-ready innovation to restore the technological edge in defense.
About General Catalyst
General Catalyst is a global investment and transformation company that partners with the world’s most ambitious entrepreneurs to drive resilience and applied AI. They have supported the growth of 800+ businesses, including Airbnb, Anduril, Applied Intuition, Commure, Glean, Guild, Gusto, Helsing, Hubspot, Kayak, Livongo, Mistral, Ramp, Samsara, Snap, Stripe, Sword, and Zepto.
About Draper Associates
Draper Associates is a global venture capital firm that backs world-shaping companies. Founded by Tim Draper in 1985, they are an industry-agnostic and stage-agnostic firm focused on frontier technologies. HQ’d in Silicon Valley, California, they were early investors in 1,000+ companies such as Robinhood, Coinbase, Tesla, Oklo, Colossal Biosciences, SpaceX, Webflow, and Baidu.
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Ian McNabb is a journalist focusing on drone technology and lifestyle content at Dronelife. He is based between Boston and NH and, when not writing, enjoys hiking and Boston area sports.
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