Ornadyne
Ornadyne is a YC Spring 2026 (P26) company. Based in Los Angeles, CA, USA. Team of 4.
About Ornadyne
Summary
Ornadyne builds flapping-wing drones engineered to replicate the appearance, flight, and acoustics of real birds for close-range reconnaissance. The platform targets defense and security operators who need covert surveillance where conventional quadcopters and fixed-wing UAS are increasingly flagged by acoustic, visual, and electronic detection systems. Ornadyne replaces those detectable platforms with a stealth-optimized, field-deployable system built from first principles for endurance, control, and autonomous operation.
Go-to-market
Primary buyers are defense and security customers requiring covert aerial surveillance in environments where counter-UAS detection is a live threat.
From the Y Combinator listing
We're building robot birds for surveillance.
Ornadyne builds flapping-wing drones for reconnaissance that look, fly, and sound like birds. Today’s drones are easy to detect acoustically, visually, and electronically. As counter-UAS systems improve, traditional quadcopters and fixed-wing UAS systems are becoming increasingly ineffective for close-range surveillance. Flapping-wing aircraft have existed for years, but have lacked the performance, endurance, and control required for real-world deployment. We’re changing that by engineering a high-performance, stealth-optimized system built from first principles for efficiency, autonomy, and reliable field use. The final frontier of surveillance won’t look like machines; it will look like wildlife already in the sky. Maybe birds aren't real?
Facts
- Industrials / Industrials -> Drones
- Los Angeles, CA, USA
- 4
- Active
- Early
Founders (2)
- Armen Arakelyan
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