Vermeer

What Vermeer does

Vermeer (legal entity AeroCine Ventures, Inc., headquartered at 253 36th Street, Brooklyn, NY) develops vision-based autonomous navigation technology that enables unmanned aerial platforms to operate in GPS-denied, spoofed, or contested electromagnetic environments. Its core product is the Visual Positioning System (VPS), a computer vision stack that processes 1-4 simultaneous electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) camera feeds against locally stored 2.5D or 3D map databases to produce a position fix without GPS, communications, or external emissions. The platform is delivered as three modules: VPS Air (GPS-denied aerial navigation for Group 1-4 UAS platforms and manned aircraft at altitudes from 70 m to 5 km AGL), VPS Terminal Guidance (precision terminal guidance for unmanned platforms), and VPS Celestial (celestial navigation through stars). Training is built on over 25,000 hours of proprietary aerial video across diverse terrains and seasons, and a full-time operational team is deployed in Ukraine for combat validation. Commercial-stage customers include U.S. defense primes and agencies (Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Atomics, Anduril, Shield AI, Sierra Nevada, Applied Intuition, Griffon Aerospace, Dzyne Technologies, the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, and USSOC), NATO allies (Royal Air Force), the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and European/NATO ecosystem players (Skyeton, ESAero, Firestorm). Direct enterprise sales, product demonstrations, and integration partnerships characterize the go-to-market.

The company monetizes via licensing/integration of the VPS technology into defense and commercial unmanned platforms, supplemented by platform sales and ongoing 24/7 mission support. Pricing is quote-based and tied to platform integration scope, with the U.S. Air Force relationship anchored by a $950 million IDIQ (Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity) award granted in January 2022. Vermeer closed a $10 million Series A in October 2025 led by Draper Associates and achieved CMMC Level 2 Final Assessment Status in June 2026, a DFARS 252.204-7021 prerequisite for handling Controlled Unclassified Information across the defense industrial base. The go-to-market is enterprise field sales targeting defense primes, government agencies, and allied militaries, with a U.S.-headquartered BD function (Chris Pickett) and a European Partnerships Director (Alex Kinash) plus Customer Success Manager for Europe (Adnan Rana). In 2025-2026, Vermeer added integration partnerships (Sentry Operations for terminal guidance and precision effects; Astroport Space Technologies for lunar autonomous construction), and announced geographic expansion to India, signaling diversification beyond the U.S./Ukraine/NATO core.

Leadership is concentrated in technical and BD roles for a defense-tech scale-up: CEO Brian Streem, CTO Suresh Kumar, Chairman of the Board Esina Alic, with Director-level heads across BD, IT/CyberSec, Testing & Integrations, and department heads in Robotics Software Engineering, Advanced R&D, Production Engineering, and Applications. The company operates at 11-50 employees. Note on data integrity: the firmographic record includes a "Pella, Iowa" headquarters and a planned 300,000 sq. ft. / 300+ jobs manufacturing facility in Bondurant, Iowa; these data points describe the unrelated Vermeer Corporation (the Pella, Iowa industrial-equipment manufacturer founded in 1948) and should not be attributed to the Brooklyn defense-tech Vermeer that is the subject of this analysis.

Name

Vermeer

Legal name

AeroCine Ventures, Inc.

Website

https://getvermeer.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Vermeer (AeroCine Ventures, Inc.) builds a computer-vision Visual Positioning System that provides GPS-denied, emission-free autonomous navigation for unmanned aerial platforms, serving U.S. defense primes, the U.S. Air Force / Army / USSOC, NATO allies, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Brooklyn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. VPS Technology Licensing and Integration: Licensing and integration of Visual Positioning System technology into defense and commercial unmanned platforms. Revenue derived from technology deployment, integration services, and ongoing support.
2. Platform Sales and Support: Direct sales of navigation systems and related hardware for aerial platforms with 24/7 mission capability support.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Vermeer builds a computer vision-based Visual Positioning System (VPS) that enables unmanned aerial platforms to navigate in GPS-denied, spoofed, and contested environments. The product suite includes VPS Air for aerial platform navigation, VPS Terminal Guidance for precision targeting, and VPS Celestial for star-based navigation, all leveraging EO/IR camera feeds mapped against 2.5D/3D databases to generate jam-proof location signals.

Product overview

Vermeer offers a suite of GPS-denied navigation solutions built around its core Visual Positioning System (VPS) technology. The product portfolio consists of three specialized modules: VPS Air for aerial platform navigation, VPS Terminal Guidance for precision terminal guidance, and VPS Celestial for celestial-based navigation. Together, these products enable any unmanned platform to determine its absolute location in contested, spoofed, and GPS-denied environments through computer vision, without requiring GPS signals, emissions, or external communications.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• VPS (Visual Positioning System): Vision-based navigation technology for GPS-denied and spoofed environments, leveraging 1-4 EO/IR camera feeds to map real-time video to locally stored 2.5D or 3D map databases

Products and services

• VPS Air

Quantifiable outcome

• GPS-denied navigation accuracy unmatched by competitors
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers15 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

Integration1 record

AI capability4 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• Astroport Space TechnologiesflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 April 2026Collaboration to develop autonomous construction machinery for lunar infrastructure. Partnership applies Vermeer's surface mining expertise to Astroport's Universal Tool Implement Payload Adapter (UTIPA) technology, adapting heavy equipment for Moon's low gravity and extreme temperature conditions. Prototype testing at Vermeer headquarters supporting NASA's goal to construct lunar infrastructure by 2030.
• Sentry OperationscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 November 2025Strategic partnership to integrate Vermeer's AI-based vision navigation system with Sentry's terminal-guidance and precision-effects technology for autonomous navigation in GPS-degraded or denied contested battlespace environments. Combined solution targets U.S. and allied defense customers with live demonstrations planned for Q1 2026.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Anduril Industries: Anduril builds autonomous systems and Lattice software for defense, including its own GPS-denied and AI-piloted navigation stack (e.g., Bolt, Ghost Helicopter). It is both a Vermeer customer and the most direct competitor for integrated autonomy on next-generation UAS, making it the most relevant peer.
• Shield AI: Shield AI develops Hivemind, an AI-pilot autonomy stack for UAS operating in contested and GPS-denied environments, and is also a Vermeer customer. It is the closest direct competitor pursuing vision-based autonomous navigation for military drones.
• Skydio: Skydio is a leading US autonomous drone manufacturer with a strong computer-vision navigation stack for GPS-denied and indoor environments. It targets defense, public safety, and commercial use cases highly comparable to Vermeer's VPS positioning.
• Near Earth Autonomy: Near Earth Autonomy builds autonomous flight systems using onboard sensors (LIDAR/vision) for GPS-denied navigation of UAS and rotorcraft. It targets defense and logistics customers with payloads highly comparable to Vermeer's VPS modules.
• Sentry Operations: Sentry Operations provides terminal-guidance and precision-effects technology for autonomous platforms in GPS-denied environments. It is both a Vermeer partner and a directly comparable peer in the precision-navigation space.

Emerging players

• Swift Navigation: Swift Navigation provides high-precision GNSS/GPS positioning technology (Skylark, Piksi) for autonomy customers. While not vision-based, it competes for the GPS-denied/resilient PNT budget that Vermeer targets and is increasingly exploring alternative PNT modalities.
• Xona Space Systems: Xona is developing a commercial LEO PNT constellation to provide an alternative to GPS. It is an adjacent emerging player in the resilient-PNT space that primes may pair with or substitute for Vermeer on certain platforms.
• Auterion: Auterion provides open-source-based autonomy software for military and commercial drones (Skynode, PX4). It competes for the same prime-integrator autonomy slot Vermeer is targeting, particularly with defense primes and NATO allies.
• Applied Intuition: Applied Intuition is a simulation and autonomy platform serving defense and automotive customers; it is a Vermeer customer but also an emerging competitor providing autonomy tooling that prime contractors could substitute for Vermeer modules.

Broad incumbents

• AeroVironment: AeroVironment is a broad incumbent defense UAS manufacturer (Switchblade, Puma) with growing autonomy and GPS-denied capabilities. While focused on platforms rather than vision-navigation modules, it competes indirectly for the same defense autonomous-navigation budgets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/vermeerapp

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds7 records

Investors10 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 Vermeer