Pharos AI

What Pharos AI does

Pharos AI is a U.S. pre-seed startup developing an edge-native autonomous threat detection and drone response platform for military installations, higher education campuses, and critical infrastructure operators. The product unifies YOLOv10-powered weapon identification (multi-class, targeting 95%+ precision and under 5% false positives) with PX4-based autonomous drone swarm coordination via MAVLink, targeting an end-to-end threat-to-response time of 13.8 seconds versus the 338-minute industry baseline. All inference runs locally on NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano edge nodes, eliminating cloud dependency for both latency and data privacy.

The platform is delivered through three pricing tiers: a one-time Edge Node & Swarm hardware setup (NVIDIA Jetson nodes, drone swarm hardware, camera integration, and on-site calibration), an annual per-camera-stream AI Monitoring license, and a premium 24/7 Mission-Critical Support subscription, supported by custom enterprise packages and government/education discounts. Distribution is direct enterprise field sales backed by a gated founding pilot program limited to 3–5 partners in Q1 2026.

The three-person founding team comprises CEO Brandon Coburn (U.S. Navy Intelligence Veteran), CTO Jonathan Reeves, and Chief Architect Tyler Aldrich. Pharos AI is SDVOSB certified, is pursuing SOC 2 Type II, and claims GDPR and CCPA compliance. As of the source date, the company is in Week 3 of a 13-week MVP sprint begun in December 2024, with no disclosed revenue, named customers, or funding amount.

Name

Pharos AI

Legal name

Pharos AI

Website

https://pharosai.systems

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Pharos AI is a U.S. pre-seed company building an edge-native platform that combines YOLOv10 weapon detection with PX4-based autonomous drone swarm response for military installations, universities, and critical infrastructure operators.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

AI Security & Surveillance

NAICS

Security Systems Services (except Locksmiths) (561621), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)

SIC

Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373), Search, Detection, Navagation, Guidance, Aeronautical Sys (3812)

akta.pro primary industry

Video Analytics & AI Security Solutions Integration (LPR, Facial, Behavior) (BPAKAGAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Aerial Robotics (Drones & UAV Autonomy) (HDAAAIAG), Real-Time Vision at the Edge (on-device CV/video) (HDAAAJAE), Autonomy Software, AI & Mission Management (UAS/UXV) (IMABAIAH)

Keywords

• Autonomous threat detection
• Drone response systems
• AI security platforms
• Edge computing AI
• Military surveillance drones

Headquarters

HQ city

United States

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Hardware Sales (Edge Nodes & Drone Swarm): One-time hardware deployment including NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano edge nodes, drone swarm hardware with configuration, camera stream integration, and on-site installation and calibration.
2. AI Monitoring Platform (Annual License): Annual subscription per camera stream for continuous AI-powered threat detection, real-time alerts, dashboard and analytics access, model updates and improvements, and detection accuracy reporting.
3. Mission-Critical Support (Premium): Premium support tier including 24/7 technical support, priority incident response, priority system updates, dedicated success manager, and custom integration support.
4. Professional Services: On-site installation, calibration, training, onboarding support, and ongoing technical support during pilot period. Custom enterprise packages available with government and education discounts.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Pharos AI builds an autonomous threat detection and drone response platform that combines edge-deployed computer vision (YOLOv10 on NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano) with autonomous drone swarms (PX4/MAVLink) to detect, classify, and respond to security threats in real time. The platform is sold as a bundled solution of edge hardware, an AI monitoring software license, and optional premium support and professional services for security-sensitive environments.

Product overview

Pharos AI offers a unified autonomous threat detection and drone response platform that integrates AI-powered computer vision detection with autonomous drone intervention. The platform consists of three core service tiers: Edge Node & Swarm Setup (hardware deployment), AI Monitoring Platform (annual software license), and Mission-Critical Support (premium support add-on). These are supported by four sub-product modules—the Command Dashboard for unified threat visualization, the AI Detection Interface for YOLOv10-powered weapon identification, the Drone Command Center for autonomous swarm coordination, and Analytics & Reporting for incident tracking and compliance. The platform operates on an edge-first architecture with no cloud dependency for critical detection.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Edge Node & Swarm Setup Hardware bundle of edge AI compute nodes (NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano-based) and an autonomous drone swarm, sold as the on-site deployment component of the Pharos AI platform. Designed for military, higher education, and critical infrastructure customers that need persistent autonomous perimeter monitoring and drone response.
• AI Monitoring Platform Centralized software platform that ingests detections from edge nodes and coordinates autonomous drone response. Delivered as an annual license subscription to enterprise and government security teams.
• Professional Services Custom integration, deployment, and training services for military, higher education, and critical infrastructure customers adopting the Pharos AI platform.

Quantifiable outcome

• Response time reduced to 13.8 seconds (vs. 338 minutes average for legacy systems)
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• NVIDIA CorporationcoreTechnology or IntegrationHardware platform provider for Jetson edge devices. NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano used for edge AI processing with local inference capabilities. No data sharing - hardware runs locally on customer premises.
• Ultralytics (YOLOv10)coreTechnology or IntegrationYOLOv10 computer vision detection engine used for weapon identification. TensorRT optimization for edge deployment. Provides 95%+ precision detection with <5% false positive rate.
• PX4 / MAVLinkcoreTechnology or IntegrationPX4 autopilot flight control system with MAVLink protocol for real-time drone telemetry. Enables autonomous swarm coordination with formation patterns, collision avoidance, and failsafe protocols.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Skydio: Leading U.S. autonomous drone manufacturer used for defense, public safety, and infrastructure inspection. Comparable on the autonomous drone hardware and PX4-adjacent flight stack, though Skydio is a platform vendor rather than an integrated security service.
• DroneShield: AI-enabled drone detection and counter-UAS systems used by military, prisons, and critical infrastructure. Overlaps with Pharos on AI threat detection and security drone deployment, but focused on counter-drone rather than drone-based response.
• Dedrone: Drone detection, tracking, and airspace security platform for defense, prisons, and critical infrastructure. Comparable on the autonomous drone security use case, though focused on identifying incoming drones rather than deploying them.
• Evolv Technology: AI-powered weapons detection system deployed at schools, stadiums, and venues. Most direct competitor to Pharos's computer vision weapon identification layer, though Evolv uses walkthrough screening rather than camera-based continuous detection.
• Shield AI: Autonomous defense drones (Nova, V-BAT) with AI piloting for military and security operations. Closest peer on the autonomous swarm drone coordination layer; serves defense customers with significantly more capital and deployed units.

Broad incumbents

• Anduril Industries: Defense-tech prime building autonomous systems (Lattice command platform, Ghost drones, Roadrunner) for perimeter security and base protection. Operates at much larger scale but converges on the same 'autonomous detection + response' category Pharos targets.
• Motorola Solutions (Avigilon): Enterprise video surveillance and AI analytics, including weapon detection features, sold to schools, government, and critical infrastructure. Competes on the detection and dashboard layers with much larger sales coverage and installed base.
• Genetec: Enterprise video management and analytics platform with deep footprint in education, transportation, and critical infrastructure. Direct overlap on the unified command dashboard and camera-stream analytics layers; lacks autonomous drone response.
• Axis Communications: Network camera and surveillance hardware vendor used across military, education, and infrastructure. Comparable on the camera-stream edge device layer that Pharos's YOLOv10 pipeline ingests, though Axis is hardware-only without AI detection or response.

Emerging players

• Iris Automation: Computer vision-based airspace awareness and detect-and-avoid for autonomous drones. Adjacent on the autonomous drone safety stack, with potential overlap as both companies scale PX4/MAVLink-based autonomous operations.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pharos-ai-system

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Pharos AI