Seeing Systems

AI Drone Systems for Defence

Winter 2026ActiveIndustrialsDefenseHardwareSwarm AIRobotics

Company

We're building inexpensive, autonomous strike drones designed to stay operationally relevant as warfare evolves. By combining true hardware modularity with an agentic control system that lowers cognitive load on operators, we enable faster upgrades, broader adoption, and more than 2x reduction in lifecycle cost. Our customers and partners include the UK Royal Marine Commandos, several other units in the UK, and 4 other NATO forces, and we are currently shipping prototypes for iterative feedback. Think of us as Anduril, but with worse weather, and better banter.

Verdict

High Signal

Market Opportunity

Defense drone market is exploding post-Ukraine, NATO spending is surging, and autonomous strike systems are a top procurement priority across European militaries. B2G/B2military is a massive TAM ($10B+), and the specific angle of modular, low-lifecycle-cost autonomous drones addresses a documented procurement pain point. Clear ICP: NATO-aligned military units needing affordable, upgradeable autonomous strike capability.

High Signal

Founder Signal

Matthew Le Maitre: Cambridge Physics first-class + CS MEng top of year, nearly 5 years at Jane Street as SWE (Apr 2021–Jan 2026), serious technical pedigree. Alexander Le Maitre: self-taught embedded electronics engineer, 4+ years building sensitive defense hardware at Intelligence Services (Jun 2021–present), direct military customer relationships including EOD training systems deployed across Europe. Complementary pairing — one deep software/ML, one deep hardware/defense — exactly right for autonomous drone systems.

Medium Signal

Competition

Direct competition includes Anduril (US, well-capitalized, DoD-focused), Auterion, Skydio, and UK-based firms like BAE Systems' drone divisions. The company self-references Anduril as a comparable. The modular hardware + agentic control differentiator is real but not unique — Shield AI and others are pursuing similar autonomy angles. UK/European defense market focus provides some geographic moat given US export restrictions and NATO procurement preferences.

Medium Signal

Product

Company is shipping prototypes for iterative feedback to named customers including UK Royal Marine Commandos and 4 other NATO forces — strong early validation signals. However, no revenue figures, no live demo, no pricing page, and no press coverage. Prototype-stage with real military end-users is meaningful but not yet proven at scale.

OverallA Tier

This is a strong defense-tech founding team with genuine domain credibility — Alexander has years of actual defense hardware deployments and direct military relationships, while Matthew brings elite software engineering from Jane Street plus Cambridge ML/robotics research. The customer traction is the standout signal: Royal Marine Commandos and 4 NATO forces receiving prototypes is unusually concrete for a pre-revenue startup. The risk is execution — building autonomous strike drones is brutally hard technically and commercially, and the path from prototype feedback to procurement contracts is long and uncertain in defense. No revenue yet and no press means this is still early, but the team and early customer validation are well above average for this stage.

Active Founders

Alexander Le Maitre

Founder

Obsessed with unmanned systems from a young age, self-taught in embedded electronics and PCB design. Previously designed Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) training and diagnostic hardware for military users as well as projects with national security implications. From a small island called Guernsey, now building tech that keeps the country safe.

Matthew Le Maitre

Founder

Ex-Jane Street SWE, Top-Ranked CS Grad @ Cambridge, now building Defence Tech. Physicist → Researcher → Consultant → Software Engineer → Founder 🚀 Trying never to lose my inner child, whilst building things that really matter.

Seeing Systems

TierA Tier

BatchWinter 2026

Team Size2

StatusActive