Blue Arrow, a Ukrainian-American startup building ‘the world’s first drone operating system’, raises pre-seed funding

Ukrainian-American startup Blue Arrow has announced the closing of its pre-seed funding round. The lead investor was Big Defence, a Finland-based early-stage investment firm known for backing transformative defence tech ventures. The round also included investors from the US and the EU. The investment amount has not been disclosed.

According to the company, the raised capital will allow Blue Arrow to expand its team and accelerate the development of its line of autonomy product lines. These include a low-cost visual navigation solution, target tracking and terminal guidance, a ballistic calculator, and a multi-UAV fleet management system designed to deliver resilient, mission-critical autonomy for defence operations.

CEO Sergii Tereshchenko describes the pre-seed round as a major milestone in Blue Arrow’s growth and a strong validation of the company’s vision. “Our mission is to make autonomy affordable, scalable, and reliable for Ukrainian front-line operators,” he said. “By combining proven navigation technology with cutting-edge fleet management and targeting systems, we are building the tools needed to redefine how drones operate in GPS-denied and contested environments.”

Blue Arrow was founded in 2024 as a partnership between Ukrainian AR/VR company and U.S.-based KEF Robotics. The startup is developing “the world’s first drone operating system designed specifically for GPS-denied and EW-contested environments.” The company’s headquarters are located in the United States, with its core development team based in Ukraine.

Earlier, Defender Media reported that Ukrainian autonomous drone systems developer NORDA Dynamics raised $1 million in funding.