Granta Autonomy, an innovative startup specializing in fully autonomous UAVs for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions, announced the successful completion of its €1 million seed funding round. ScaleWolf VC, a leading Lithuanian dual-use tech VC Fund and Accelerator, led the round, with participation from Brolis Defence and HFL holdings.
The new capital will enable Granta Autonomy to accelerate the development and production of its cutting-edge lightweight surveillance and reconnaissance UAVs, micro gimbals, and digital Datalink software, which its team has personally tested over Ukraine’s front lines.
Granta Autonomy has been developing reconnaissance remote-controlled UAV aircraft, lightweight gimbals, and its unique Datalink software since 2015. Founded by former military engineers Gediminas Guoba and Laurynas Litvinas, the company now provides NATO forces across Europe with its range of hand-launched Hornet UAVs while also providing a range of partners with its proprietary, ultra-reliable, lightweight micro gimbals, which are the lightest direct drive gimbals on the market.
Granta Autonomy’s micro gimbals feature a powerful camera system that allows for clear daytime image capture at long distances (up to 5 kilometres) and provides vital thermal vision for nighttime operations, ensuring mission success around the clock.
“The traditional battlefield is evolving, and Western armies require robust, reliable, and flexible solutions. Granta Autonomy is committed to ensuring our systems can be readily manufactured across Europe, reducing reliance on external sources. Today’s funding enables us to ramp up our production capacity to deliver the large-scale deployments Europe needs,” said Gediminas Guoba, founder and CEO of Granta Autonomy.
Granta Autonomy’s latest UAV, the Hornet XR, is a small, hard-to-detect, hand-launched mini reconnaissance UAV with several critical features for covert missions. With a simple throw take-off and a silent flight lasting up to 3 hours, it can cover vast distances (up to 160 km) undetected.
Edvinas Kerza, ScaleWolf VC’s Managing Partner and former Vice Minister of Lithuanian MoD, added: “Since we met Gediminas and the team, we have been impressed by the groundbreaking technology and vision of the Granta Autonomy team. Their innovative approach to developing surveillance and reconnaissance technology is second to none and has the potential to revolutionize the way armed forces manage complicated and multi-discipline reconnaissance missions. We proudly support their mission and look forward to seeing their autonomous UAVs impact the battlefield over the coming years.”
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2024/07/vilnius-based-drone-startup-granta-autonomy-bags-e1-million-to-transform-reconnaissance-missions/
