The war in Ukraine has shown that war evolves day by day. It is also clear that the technology used to wage war today is expensive: while large countries can afford legions of tanks, helicopters and precision strike systems, small countries find themselves searching less expensive means of defending oneself.
Origin, a new Latvian defense technology startup, specializes in manufacturing autonomous, reusable drones capable of delivering munitions at a much lower cost than similar solutions. The company already has commercial agreements with two NATO countries, but these remain anonymous for security reasons.
Founded in 2022 by Agris Kipurs and Ilya Nevdah, Origin came about after the couple left Airdog, which made an autonomous drone famous for recording extreme sports. Eventually, Airdog was acquired by American smart home solutions developer, Alarm.com.
“Airdog was a consumer drone. We were the first in the world to launch an autonomous flight system in 2015,” Kipurs (CEO) told TechCrunch. “We founded Origin in March 2022, obviously in response to the invasion of Ukraine. We realized we needed to get back to what we do best, this time for military applications. We knew the skills we had as a team were scarce because we had been building autonomous systems for over 10 years.
The startup’s flagship product, BEAK, is an ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) drone equipped with precision guidance technology. It contains a camera, is capable of autonomous flight, and can withstand intense radio jamming. It is also portable, making it well suited to wars like the one in Ukraine.
These days, many of us are familiar with images of “first-person view” (FPV) drones, carrying grenades and ramming tanks to make them explode. It is clear that these drones need to be replaced.
Instead of detonating itself, the BEAK delivers munitions to the target while remaining intact, meaning they can be reused: so cost savings can be significant.
“The BEAK is a precision-guided weapons system,” Kipurs explained. “It’s not a drone. Think of it as a flying javelin. Drones are generally used for reconnaissance-type applications, not to carry out precision strikes. “It’s more of a traditional military drone, but it’s small and its cost per strike is about 20 times lower than alternatives.”
Kipurs believes BEAK will appeal to smaller countries: “Latvia and all small democracies around the world desperately need the tech community to support the mission. They realize they can no longer afford to wage war the old-fashioned way.”
Origin recently raised €2.4 million in an seed funding round led by Change Ventures and in which Silicon Roundabout Ventures also invested. The company also raised 1.6 million euros through EU grants and support from the Latvian Defense Ministry, bringing its total funding to 4 million euros.
Andris K. Berzins, partner at Change Ventures, added in a statement: “Having known Agris and Ilya for a decade through their successful launch of the world’s leading action sports drone, Airdog, I knew this team was unlike any other. to many others who have started to learn. how to build a drone startup only since the invasion of Ukraine two years ago. Their ability to combine this expertise with an ambitious vision to reshape the precision weapons market, and their remarkable rise over the past 18 months, made investing in Origin an easy choice.