Computer‑vision startup Visionary Machines has topped up its war‑chest with a $3.5 million raise fully subscribed by existing backers Folklore Ventures, OIF, Thorney, Salus, and Significant VC.
“This speaks to the confidence of our investors in what Visionary Machines is producing,” said CEO, Sonny Foster.
“Accelerating the capability we offer our customers across augmented vision systems, and in particular our passive optical drone detection, tracking, identification and targeting system — Pandion Sentinel.”
The company said fresh capital will help an ongoing hiring push at the Sydney-based company which currently has roles open in its engineering and product teams.
Visionary Machines’ passive 3D optical arrays gives defence and critical‑infrastructure operators a way to detect, track and target drones without emitting tell‑tale signals, an edge as swarming threats multiply.
Its Pandion Sentinal product is intended to track and counter drones and other autonamous robotics systems.
While the Ukraine war has proven the pervasiveness of drones in modern warfare, the local counter drone market is already thick with deep-tech players.
ASX‑listed DroneShield rolled out an upgraded, multi‑sensor DroneSentry suite earlier this year that fuses RF sensing, radar and long‑range optics.
While Adelaide’s Silentium Defence is pitching passive, no-emission radar sensors that can fit in a backpack.
Still, investors have come back to the Visionary Machines table with the latest round completely subscribed from previous investors who tipped in for the startup’s $7.5 million seed round in 2021.
Daily startup news and insights, delivered to your inbox.