What Theseus does

Theseus is a US-based defense technology company founded in February 2024 that builds visual positioning software for drones operating in GPS-denied environments. Its flagship product, Cyclops, is a software-only system that compares live camera imagery (EO and LWIR) against pre-generated satellite reference maps to estimate vehicle position in real time and outputs those positions to flight controllers over standard MAVLink interfaces. Cyclops integrates natively with ArduPilot and runs on commodity, NDAA-compliant compute hardware such as Raspberry Pi 5 and Nvidia Jetson, enabling low Size, Weight, Power and Cost (SWaP-C) deployments. The company complements Cyclops with Micro VPS, a hardware-based visual positioning system that stores up to 50,000 sq km of map area, and a small ecosystem of ground-control and mission-planning tools (Theseus Maps App, Theseus GCS App, and the legacy Vozilla GCS).

The company was the first defense company accepted into Y Combinator (March 2024) and has attracted named customer engagements with the United States Air Force (USAF AltPNT experts), United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), and the Department of Defense, with its first unit shipped to a DoD customer in August 2024. Operational use has been demonstrated in Ukraine and Poland in addition to US deployments, and the company reports thousands of flights across hundreds of platforms. The business model is sales-led and enterprise/government-focused, with direct demo bookings and capability briefings, and revenue is most plausibly generated through software licenses or subscriptions bundled with support and updates.

Theseus has raised approximately $4.8 million in disclosed funding across two rounds: a $500,000 round in September 2024 from Pioneer Fund and Y Combinator, and a $4.3 million round in April 2025 led by First Round Capital with participation from Lux Capital and Y Combinator. Leadership is founder-led, with Carl Schoeller as co-founder and CEO, Ian Laffey as co-founder and CTO, and Sacha Lévy as co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer.

Name

Theseus

Legal name

Theseus, Inc.

Website

https://theseus.us

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Theseus is a US-based defense technology company that builds software-only visual positioning systems (Cyclops and Micro VPS) enabling drones to navigate accurately in GPS-denied environments, serving primarily US Department of Defense, USAF, and USSOCOM customers with demonstrated operations in Ukraine and Poland.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Software Licenses/Subscriptions: Software-first visual positioning solutions sold to defense and commercial drone operators. Cyclops is a software product requiring integration with commodity hardware. Revenue likely derived from software licenses, possibly subscription-based with support and updates.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Theseus develops software-only visual positioning technology (Cyclops) that enables drones to maintain accurate global position estimates when GPS is jammed, spoofed, or unavailable. The system compares live camera imagery (EO and LWIR) against pre-generated satellite reference maps in real time and outputs positions to ArduPilot flight controllers via MAVLink, running on commodity NDAA-compliant hardware such as Raspberry Pi 5 and Nvidia Jetson. The company also sells Micro VPS, an integrated hardware-plus-software visual positioning unit, alongside supporting ground control station software and a web-based map generation tool.

Product overview

Theseus offers a suite of visual positioning products for GPS-denied drone operations. The primary offerings are Cyclops (software-only visual positioning for fixed-wing UAVs), Micro VPS (hardware-based visual positioning system), and supporting software including Vozilla (legacy GCS application) and the Theseus Maps App (web application for map generation). Cyclops is the current flagship software product that outputs position estimates to ArduPilot flight controllers over MAVLink, while Micro VPS is a hardware solution. The ecosystem includes complementary GCS software applications for ground control, map management, and flight log analysis.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Cyclops: Software-only visual positioning system for GPS-denied flight, comparing live camera imagery against pre-generated reference maps to estimate vehicle position in real time.
• Micro VPS
• Vozilla
• Theseus Maps App
• Theseus GCS App

Products and services

• Cyclops Software-only visual positioning system for GPS-denied drone flight. Compares live camera imagery (EO and LWIR) against pre-generated reference terrain maps in real time to estimate vehicle position, and outputs positions to ArduPilot flight controllers over standard MAVLink interfaces. Runs on commodity NDAA-compliant compute hardware such as Raspberry Pi 5 and Nvidia Jetson.
• Micro VPS (Micro Visual Positioning System) Integrated hardware-plus-software visual positioning unit providing GPS-denied positioning capability for drones. Requires pre-processed satellite imagery to perform map matching and can store up to 50,000 sq km of map area.
• Theseus Maps App Web application for generating map sets for operations with Micro VPS. Allows users to search for locations, select areas, and generate satellite-imagery maps for GPS-denied missions.
• Vozilla (Legacy GCS Application) Legacy Ground Control Station (GCS) application (v1.14.2 and below) for controlling Micro VPS devices, generating and uploading maps, reviewing flight logs, and performing system administration tasks.
• Theseus GCS App Desktop Ground Control Station application (Windows and Linux) for controlling Micro VPS devices, configuring MAV connections, and performing system administration tasks.

Quantifiable outcome

• Sub-50m positioning accuracy in GPS-denied flight demonstrated
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability2 records

Feature6 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Swift Navigation: Provides precise GPS/GNSS positioning solutions including resilience features for automotive and emerging drone/autonomy markets. Comparable as a venture-backed alt-PNT peer pursuing contested-environment positioning.
• Skydio: Leading US autonomous drone manufacturer with deep DoD and public-safety footprint. Comparable as a US-made, NDAA-compliant platform vendor that could either integrate Theseus's positioning stack or compete for the same DoD autonomy dollars.

Broad incumbents

• Shield AI: Defense-tech company building autonomous drones (e.g., V-BAT) and AI piloting software for GPS-denied operations. Directly comparable as a VC-backed defense-tech competitor pursuing similar DoD programs and autonomy stacks.
• Anduril Industries: Large, well-funded defense-tech incumbent building autonomous systems (drones, alt-PNT, counter-UAS) for the DoD. Overlaps with Theseus in GPS-denied autonomy and is a primary alternative buyer of positioning tech or a potential acquirer/integrator.
• L3Harris Technologies: Major defense prime with significant AltPNT and tactical communications portfolios (e.g., ACES, MAPS GPS-denied solutions). Represents the incumbent pathway Theseus is competing against for DoD positioning contracts.
• BAE Systems (FalconWorks / Autonomy): Global defense prime with GPS-denied navigation and autonomy programs for military UAS. A likely prime competitor for AltPNT funding and a potential systems integrator for Theseus's software.
• Hexagon / NovAtel: Established provider of GNSS and assured-PNT hardware solutions for aerospace and defense. Represents the traditional high-SWaP alternative Theseus is displacing for low-SWaP, contested-environment positioning.

Direct peers

• Exyn Technologies: Develops GPS-denied autonomous flight and mapping software for commercial and defense drones using visual and LiDAR-based positioning. Directly comparable technology stack and target use cases.
• Near Earth Autonomy: Specializes in autonomous flight and GPS-denied navigation for UAVs using sensor fusion and vision-based approaches. Closest direct competitor to Theseus in visual/visual-inertial positioning for military and commercial drones.
• Auterion: Open-source-based drone operating system built on PX4/MAVLink, with significant defense and government deployments. Closely comparable in stack philosophy (ArduPilot/PX4-native) and in pursuing AltPNT/autonomy for DoD fleets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Theseus