Norwegian Counter-Drone Startup Stendr Raises $5.4M
Stendr, a Norwegian defence technology startup developing AI-driven systems to detect and track drones, has raised $5.4 million in an oversubscribed pre-seed round. The round was co-led by RainFall, ACME, and SkyFall, with participation from Sisyphus, Antler, StartupLab, Off Piste, and Andøya Ventures, alongside a syndicate of global technology founders and investors.
The Team Behind Stendr
The company is led by Aleksander Leonard Larsen, CEO and co-founder, who spent seven years as co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Sky Mavis, the Norwegian-founded gaming company behind Axie Infinity. Sky Mavis reached a $3 billion valuation in October 2021 after a $150 million Series B led by Andreessen Horowitz.
In March 2022, North Korea’s Lazarus Group exploited a vulnerability in the Ronin Network, stealing approximately $620 million in cryptocurrency, making it the largest cryptocurrency hack at the time. Larsen later stated, "After what I’ve seen, I no longer take security for granted. Resilience must be built deliberately."
Stendr's Focus: Counter-Drone Technology
Stendr focuses on counter-drone technology, developing AI-driven multi-sensor systems embedded in cost-efficient hardware platforms to detect, track, and provide situational awareness against low-cost autonomous drones in operational environments.
Larsen emphasizes the urgency of this issue, drawing parallels to the Ukraine conflict where mass-produced commercial drones have repeatedly neutralized assets worth millions: "At Stendr, we are building the technology to find them, track them, and give defenders the information to act, fully sovereign to Europe."
The counter-drone market is experiencing rapid growth, with MarketsandMarkets projecting a significant increase in the global counter-UAS market.