A spontaneous hackathon project (Theseus) has become one of defense tech’s most talked-about startups.
In early 2024, three engineers—Ian Laffey, Sacha Lévy, and Carl Schoeller—met at a hackathon and built a drone that could navigate without GPS, using only a camera and Google Maps.
Their prototype, assembled for under $500 in just 24 hours, went viral on X (formerly Twitter) and caught the attention of Silicon Valley—and eventually, the U.S. military.
That single tweet led them to apply to Y Combinator, where they were accepted into the Spring 2024 batch. Fast-forward a year, and their company, Theseus, has just raised $4.3 million in seed funding, led by First Round Capital, with support from Lux Capital and Y Combinator.
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Solving the Military’s GPS Problem
While GPS jamming has plagued drone operations in conflict zones like Ukraine, Theseus is developing software and hardware to eliminate the dependency entirely. Instead of building drones themselves, Theseus focuses on enabling any military drone to fly autonomously without GPS—an especially critical need in modern electronic warfare environments.
“We’re not in the business of targeting—we just get drones from point A to B,” said Carl Schoeller, now CEO of Theseus.
The company’s system uses visual data and maps to calculate positioning, allowing drones to navigate even in GPS-denied or signal-blocked environments such as urban combat zones, under heavy cloud cover, or in electronic warfare operations.
From Hackathon to Special Forces
While Theseus hasn’t yet deployed in combat or secured military contracts, their tech has already drawn interest from the U.S. Special Forces, which has entered into an early-stage testing agreement. The startup recently tested its system at a classified military base, sharing a photo with TechCrunch of their prototype in action.
Though still pre-revenue, the company is now hiring for key engineering roles and focusing its fresh capital on refining the technology for broader defense applications.
A Fast-Moving Team with a Viral Origin
Building a startup with teammates you’ve known less than a week is typically discouraged—but in Theseus’ case, it worked. Schoeller reflected on LinkedIn that the decision to commit to the venture was a leap of faith—but one that paid off.
The startup joins a rapidly growing defense tech ecosystem alongside giants like Shield AI, Skydio, and Anduril—all focused on reshaping the future of autonomous and secure warfare tools.
As military operations increasingly rely on unmanned systems, Theseus is positioning itself as a key player in next-gen navigation software—proof that sometimes, a single tweet really can launch a company.
