Ukrainian Drone Swarm Firm Swarmer Eyes Nasdaq IPO After $15M Funding Boost

Swarmer was founded by Serhii Kupriienko and Alex Fink in May 2023. The company has several products—all software—Styx AI, Minas, and Trident. These are drone-swarm management systems that work with unmanned vehicles from different manufacturers and include encrypted communications.

The systems enable the following:

• An operator sets a target.

• AI independently coordinates dozens of drones.

• The swarm operates autonomously even without GPS.

The company says real-world deployments have already involved more than 10 drones, and The Wall Street Journal has confirmed the system’s combat use on the front lines. Swarmer’s goal is to enable simultaneous operation of up to 100 drones, including different types—reconnaissance, FPV, and others. All drones are meant to work synchronously, share information directly with one another rather than through human operators, and execute missions autonomously.

This capability is critical because Swarmer’s ambition goes beyond warfare. The company operates in a dual-use model that includes civilian applications. In conversations with the editorial team, the company identified several priority civilian markets:

• disaster response

• firefighting

• mass events

• infrastructure

Autonomy is just as important in these scenarios—for example, during GPS outages or in remote regions where GPS may be unavailable, or in difficult conditions following natural disasters. The war in Ukraine has become a technical proving ground for Swarmer’s systems. GPS is already disabled in Ukrainian cities during attacks, and electronic warfare systems operate in frontline areas. These conditions allow the company not only to develop but also to rigorously test systems capable of operating anywhere in the world.

Investment

Since its launch, the project has raised nearly $20 million, according to official figures, across several rounds: pre-seed, seed, and Series A.

• $125,000 in 2023

• $2.7 million in 2024

• $15 million in a Series A round in 2025

Investors include Broadband Capital Investments, R-G.AI, D3 Ventures, Radius Capital, Green Flag Ventures, and Network VC—some of which are US-based defense-focused funds.

Swarmer has publicly raised the largest funding round in Ukraine’s defense industry to date.

IPO filing

An IPO filing in itself does not guarantee a public listing, but it is a telling signal of Ukrainian defense tech’s global ambitions. For Ukraine’s technology sector, this represents a fundamentally new level: for the first time, a company developing battlefield technology during a full-scale war is seeking public company status on one of the world’s key financial markets.

Several important details stand out. The filing targets the Nasdaq Capital Market, a segment designed for companies with market capitalizations of up to $2 billion. Swarmer’s current valuation is in the several-hundred-million-dollar range, sources say.

In its filing, the company also disclosed financial figures:

• Revenue: 2024—$329,410; 2025—$309,920

• Losses: 2024—$2.1 million; 2025—$8.5 million

In practice, the company operates primarily on investment capital and is deliberately channeling resources into R&D and product scaling.

At the same time, Swarmer has already signed contracts totaling $16.3 million, with additional agreements worth $16.8 million planned for 2026–2028. Combined, these commitments exceed $33 million.

A public listing could help the company secure new funding for continued development and attract new customers. The latter is especially important for Swarmer, which does not hide the fact that its primary customer today is Ukraine—specifically, the Armed Forces.

Ukrainian Defense Tech

In 2025, Ukrainian defense startups raised more than $100 million—significantly more than the previous year. Just four years ago, funding consisted almost entirely of grants. Today, the market has matured, produced clear leaders, and some company valuations have already surpassed $1 billion (such as EDGE’s investment in Fire Point). Crucially, these companies now offer not just ideas or prototypes, but products that are actively deployed and proven on the battlefield.

Equally important, a growing number of foreign companies are seeking to invest in Ukraine, establish joint ventures, and deepen cooperation.

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