Defence surveillance startup Arkeus spots $5 million

A defence technology startup that helps analyse visual surveillance systems from drones and other optical systems has raised $5 million in new funds from its existing backers.

Main Sequence, Salus and Beaten Zone Venture Partners wrote fresh cheques following on from a $4.5 million Seed round in December 2023.

Defence expert Simon Olsen cofounded Arkeus in with aerospace engineer Dr Jonathan Nebauer in 2020.

The Arkeus Hyperspectral Optical Radar (HSOR) system combines software-enabled sensors with advanced optics, AI, and edge processing to see what the human eye can’t in wide-area search, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance operations.  It can work across a range of visual monitoring applications, including border protection, city-size surveillance, force protection, counter terrorism, illegal activity monitoring, and search and rescue, spanning land, sea and space.

All three arms of the Australian Defence Force have been using Arkeus technology, which also has robust data encryption. The systems have been integrated into more than six defence platforms over the past year, including successful operational evaluations of HSOR in Australia and internationally.

Operationally deployed on airborne and surface platforms, both manned and unmanned, the technology provides a critical component of Australia’s defensive capabilities.

Olsen, the CEO, said the platform is extracting critical intelligence and surveillance information and disseminating that data in challenging or contested environments.

“As the recognised leader in autonomous optical systems, Arkeus is seeing a 10x increase in demand for its capabilities. This funding allows Arkeus to rapidly expand manufacturing capacity to get systems into its customers’ hands, faster,” he said.

“This funding injection reflects renewed confidence in Australian capability. This strength, in conjunction with the welcomed Government modification to the definition of an Australian business, provides the foundation necessary for Arkeus to grow its contribution to the success of AUKUS Pillar II.”

Main Sequence investment manager Alezeia Brown said: “Arkeus’ fusion of advanced optics, AI, and edge processing is proving invaluable across multiple defence platforms”.