Occam Industries, a London-based defence tech startup with a focus on autonomous drone operations. It has completed assessment as fit for integration testing by the Ukrainian defence tech cluster Brave 1.
In addition, the company has raised €3 million pre-seed round led by Presto Tech Horizons, backed by industrial defence partner Czechoslovak Group. Additional support from Antler, US-based Freedom Fund, and dual-use investor TYR.vc strengthens a globally aligned investor table.
The funding will accelerate deployment across front-line units and expand the suite of support features delivered through autonomous systems.
What challenge does it tackle?
Revealing what challenge Occam is resolving to TFN, the company stated, “Drone pilots are rare resources. Not everyone is a natural pilot and Russia targets them whenever they can find them. Pilots face challenges when operating drones, including electronic warfare, signals loss, and denial of GPS.”
They further added, “Occam provides a low-cost AI that can live onboard any platform (such as a drone). When you provide it a mission, it will complete it using only locally available information. This makes platforms immune to electronic warfare and signals loss, so they can operate where humans cannot. In addition to this, Occam removes the pilot cap on numbers of missions that can be launched, enabling Ukraine and other militaries to field autonomous low cost drones as soon as they leave production lines.”
Software-driven autonomy for drone fleets
Founded by Gui Wainwright, Occam specialises in embedding advanced software into mass-produced drones and UAV platforms, enabling new capabilities without modifying airframes, disrupting supply chains, or involving OEMs.
Leveraging computer vision for perception, tracking, and navigation, it minimises the need for constant manual control and reduces operator skill demands. The result is bounded, practical autonomy that amplifies mission effectiveness while keeping full accountability within the command structure.
Ukraine becomes the testing ground
January’s field tests via Ukraine’s TEST in Ukraine program have opened a new chapter, a Proof of Concept built around a Ukrainian unmanned platform adapted for harsh weather and combat conditions. Success would set the stage for wider military-level scaling and long-term integration into the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
This progression illustrates a broader shift in defence that autonomy is no longer a distant ambition but a capability being measured against real battlefield needs. Occam’s trajectory shows how quickly validated technology can move toward national adoption when the use case is urgent and the testing environment is uncompromising.
Alongside governmental officials, the January tests were observed by Ukrainian original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and showed great potential. The technology will be further validated after integration onto Ukrainian unmanned platforms, as a precursor to deployment. Outside Ukraine, Occam has strategic partnerships and collaborations already underway with European defense primes looking to reinforce NATO capabilities.
Detailing on competition, the company stated, “We have one competitor, which is Russia. We view European and Ukrainian defence companies as being on the same team as us, and we will win or lose together.”
What about diversity?
Sharing their diversity statistics, Occam revealed, “50% of our leadership team is diverse, with around 30% of the company as a whole.”
What’s next for Occam?
Revealing their plans for the next 12 months, Occam stated, “Our immediate goal is to fully integrate with Ukrainian OEMs to enable the military to massively scale drone operations by automating the front line. Our next milestone is deployment onto the NATO Eastern flank, pilot projects for which have already commenced.”
“Ukraine is not a pilot or test market. It’s the most demanding operating environment for autonomous systems anywhere in the world right now,” says Gui Wainwright, Co-founder and 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 defence.”
“Occam impressed us with their ability to turn ambition into operational reality at an incredible pace,” explains Matej Luhovy, Partner at Presto Tech Horizons. “They deploy, learn, and iterate under conditions dictated by the front line. Gui has an exceptional ability to rally people around a clear mission, and the team executes on it with urgency and discipline. Combined with a software-only autonomy stack that works without GPS or external connectivity, this is a solution that is not just novel, but fundamentally different.”
“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,” says 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 future of defense technologies is being shaped and tested in Ukraine today. Brave1 has created a platform where international partners can trial their solutions, exchange expertise, and work with us to address emerging security challenges. AI is one of our key priorities, as it is fundamentally transforming the nature of combat operations. We highly value the fact that British technology companies like Occam are working directly with Ukraine to respond to real frontline needs – an experience that strengthens not only Ukraine, but Europe as a whole,” says Andrii Hrytseniuk, CEO at Brave1.
“This war will not be won not by the weight of numbers but by the power of creativity and innovation. Trusting good people to come up with good ideas, and creating good systems to apply them. Occam is a great example. It will confer asymmetric advantage in a fight that we simply must win,” concludes Sir Alex Younger, former Director General of MI6, and advisor to Occam.
