Funding round brings in FirstMark, adds General Clarke to Board, and supports new defense contracts
Tycho AI, a company developing resilient navigation and artificial intelligence systems for unmanned vehicles, announced it has raised $10 million in Series A funding. The round was led by FirstMark, with additional investment from seed round partner Pillar VC.
The funding will accelerate product development and help scale deployments across government customers. Tycho AI builds software and hardware that enable drones and other unmanned systems to operate in the most difficult conditions, such as GPS-denied and communications-contested environments.
Focus on Resilient Autonomy
“Tycho AI is not simply building autonomy technology, we are laying the foundation for how humans and machines will interoperate in the real world,” said Thom Kenney, CEO of Tycho AI and a U.S. Army combat veteran. “Our focus is on solving the hardest problem in autonomy: creating systems that remain reliable in the most complex and unpredictable environments, from denied battlefields to dense cities. We are assembling the people, the science, and the partnerships to make this vision real, and we are already moving faster than anyone else in this space.”
Tycho’s approach is different from large-scale AI models that need constant connectivity and high compute resources. Instead, its modular system runs on low-SWaP hardware like FPGAs and ASICs. This makes the technology practical for edge deployment on small aerial and ground platforms.
Professor Sertac Karaman, Tycho AI Founder and advisor, noted: “The challenge of autonomy has never been about making systems work in perfect conditions; it has always been about making them work when conditions are at their worst. What excites me about Tycho AI is the relentless focus on solving that problem. By combining multi-modal sensing with advanced machine learning, the team is building autonomy that will not just operate, but excel, in places where every other system fails.”
Military and Commercial Applications
The Series A funds will be used to grow Tycho AI’s engineering and capture teams, expand flight testing and integration, and advance its edge-AI autonomy stack. While much of the company’s focus is on defense, the technology also has applications in commercial sectors such as agricultural drone operations.
Operating in contested environments is a growing priority for defense planners as electronic warfare expands worldwide. Tycho’s systems integrate visual-inertial odometry, sensor fusion, and machine learning to deliver reliable performance without dependence on GPS or remote operators.
Leadership and Defense Contracts
As part of its growth, Tycho AI announced that retired General Richard D. Clarke has joined its Board of Directors. Clarke is a former Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) and a decorated Army Ranger.
“In my experience, autonomy often falls short in the very environments we need it most,” said Clarke. “Tycho is fixing that, focusing not on academic AI, but on edge-executable autonomy for the toughest missions.”
Clarke joins the board as Tycho continues to win defense contracts. The company has secured over $5 million in Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards, including a Direct to Phase II with AFWERX, a Phase II award from the Strategic Capabilities Office, and a TACFI contract with the Air Force Research Laboratory.
About Tycho AI
Founded by national security experts and MIT engineers, Tycho AI develops mission-critical autonomy software for unmanned systems. Its edge-executable AI enables drones and ground systems to navigate and operate in GPS-denied and comms-contested environments. More information is available at www.tycho.ai
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Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.
For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.
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