Ukrainian startup OSIRIS AI secured funding from a U.S. investor. The project is developing an operating system for drones

Ukrainian defence startup OSIRIS AI, which is developing the operating system for drones — OSIRIS DroneOS — has raised investment from a foreign investor. The amount of the deal is not being disclosed. When asked, the company told Defender Media that the investor is from the USA, and shared some additional details.

In its official press release, the company explains that OSIRIS DroneOS is a modular operating system for UAVs, designed for secure integration of various hardware platforms and for working with AI modules and cloud computing.

The system is built on Embedded Linux, supports a wide range of hardware devices (STM32, NVIDIA Jetson, Raspberry Pi CM4, Pixhawk, CubePilot, etc.) and features a container architecture (Docker/OCI) for AI applications. Among its key functions are 256-bit communication encryption, a proprietary app store, cloud-based mission analytics, and compatibility with PX4 and MAVLink.

“We are building a unified ecosystem for UAVs and C-UAVs, bringing together AI-solution developers, micro-electronics manufacturers and users into a global collaboration network — similar to how Android once brought together the mobile world,” said Roman Onyshchenko, CEO of OSIRIS AI Ukraine.

When asked by Defender Media, the company clarified that OSIRIS DroneOS is ready and is now undergoing closed testing. “We have integrations with two manufacturers, we’re testing it on their hardware,” the company said. “But in general, we integrate quickly with any manufacturer that uses common components.” The company does not yet disclose the names of the manufacturers it is working with.

The startup explains that if a drone manufacturer uses standardised hardware in their drone design, then once the operating system is installed, the manufacturer gets an app store with ready-to-use mission applications (from basic signal processing to recognition and guidance). They also plan to expand and update this library of applications — both from OSIRIS AI and from third-party developers (after moderation). “Effectively, you buy the hardware, take it out of the box, install the OS and have a toolkit for its use and a set of mission scenarios,” the startup says.

Currently, OSIRIS AI has over 30 employees. The project’s founders previously worked in IT with machine learning and AI.