London’s Occam Raises €3 M To Advance Autonomous Drone Technology For Defence

The round was led by Presto Tech Horizons, a resilience-focused venture capital fund backed by defence-industrial partner CSG (Czechoslovak Group). Additional investors include Antler, US-based Freedom Fund, Copenhagen-based dual-use investor TYR.vc, and several defence and security industry angels. The funding will support further deployment and product development.

Founded in 2025, Occam is a London-based technology company focused on integrating advanced software into widely available drone and UAV platforms.

It has developed OccamX, a retrofit autopilot system using computer vision for FPV drones, enabling enhanced capabilities without modifying existing airframes, supply chains, or manufacturer ownership.

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The system uses computer vision for perception, tracking, and navigation, reducing reliance on continuous manual piloting and lowering operator skill requirements. Occam highlights that although low-cost drones are widely accessible, most still depend on human control, limiting scalability.

“The future of defence technologies is being shaped and tested in Ukraine today. Brave1 has created a platform where international partners can trial their solutions, exchange expertise, and work with us to address emerging security challenges. AI is one of our key priorities, as it is fundamentally transforming the nature of combat operations. We highly value the fact that British technology companies like Occam are working directly with Ukraine to respond to real frontline needs an experience that strengthens not only Ukraine, but Europe as a whole,” says Andrii Hrytseniuk, CEO at Brave1.

The company aims to address this by enabling software driven autonomy. Its technology allows drones to be deployed rapidly after production and operate independently of external communications or GPS, improving resilience against signal interference and jamming.

Ukraine’s national defence platform Brave1 is reportedly exploring collaboration between Occam and selected Ukrainian manufacturers to introduce the company’s technology into the local defence ecosystem.

Field tests conducted in late January through the TEST in Ukraine platform have, according to Occam, supported broader adoption of automated drone operations within defence applications.

The company’s next phase involves developing a Proof of Concept using a Ukrainian unmanned platform designed to operate in challenging weather and combat environments. If trials are successful Occam plans to scale deployment and support integration with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

According to Occam its technology will undergo additional validation following integration into Ukrainian unmanned platforms, serving as a step toward operational deployment. Beyond Ukraine, the company says it is working with European defence contractors to support NATO capability development.

The funding will be used to expand adoption across Ukrainian front-line operations and enhance autonomous system support features. Occam is also launching paid pilot projects with European defence partners, with deployments anticipated within the year.

“Ukraine is not a pilot or test market. It’s the most demanding operating environment for autonomous systems anywhere in the world right now. Every assumption is tested under pressure: latency, reliability, operator load, decision-making. What we build at Occam is shaped by that reality and then honed in combat conditions. Fundamentally, if a system cannot perform at the zero-line, we cannot trust troops or security to it and it has no place in modern defence,” said Gui Wainwright, co-founder and CEO of Occam.it has no place in modern defence,” said Gui Wainwright, co-founder and CEO of Occam.