Occam Industries has completed an operational assessment with Ukraine’s defense innovation platform Brave1 and raised a €3 million pre-seed round to continue development of its autonomous drone software. The round was led by Presto Tech Horizons, with participation from Antler, Freedom Fund, and TYR.vc.
The Brave1 assessment cleared Occam’s technology as fit for testing on Ukrainian unmanned platforms.
“Ukraine is not a pilot or test market. It’s the most demanding operating environment for autonomous systems anywhere in the world right now,” said Gui Wainwright, CEO of Occam. “Every assumption is tested under pressure: latency, reliability, operator load, decision-making. What we build at Occam is shaped by that reality and then honed in combat conditions. Fundamentally, if a system cannot perform at the zero-line, we cannot trust troops or security to it, and it has no place in modern defense.”
Occam’s model focuses on integrating software into existing platforms rather than redesigning hardware. The goal is bounded autonomy that reduces operator burden while keeping decision authority within the military chain of command.
Despite the widespread use of drones in Ukraine, most systems still depend on continuous human control. Occam’s approach replaces manual piloting with software-only autonomy that can operate without GPS or external communications, reducing exposure to jamming and operator fatigue.
“The EU is clearly moving towards rearming. This has attracted new investors to defence,” said Wainwright. “What’s most important is not the act of rearming or the influx of money; but the underlying change of mindset in the EU beneath this, and the needs that underpin it. We need speed to supply Ukraine with advanced AI, speed to give them an edge that can help them win. The real value in this new world is in technologies that fundamentally underpin asymmetric advantages enabling victory on the field.”
Ukraine’s reliance on drones has grown sharply. Unmanned systems now account for the vast majority of aerial weapons deployed. Occam’s participation in Brave1 field evaluations signals a shift away from controlled trials toward validation under live conditions.
“We often say that founders and teams need to learn quickly, adapt under pressure, thrive in ambiguity, and stay focused on outcomes – but we aren’t usually imagining environments this extreme,” said Hannah Leach, Partner at Antler. “Occam is a team honed to excel under exceedingly challenging conditions, and to respond daily to real-world constraints.”
The €3 million round will fund continued adoption in Ukraine and support further development of autonomous capabilities. Occam is also beginning paid deployment projects with European defense primes, with field use expected this year. Following the assessment, Brave1 is pursuing collaboration between Occam and Ukrainian manufacturers, opening a path toward integration on locally produced platforms.
The company conducted tests in January under Ukraine’s TEST in Ukraine program, which cleared the way for a proof of concept using a Ukrainian unmanned platform, adapted for weather variability and combat stress. If successful, the system is expected to move toward scaled deployment with Ukrainian forces.
