Rockaway Ventures has announced a new investment in the US-based startup Vermeer, the company behind a Visual Positioning System (VPS) technology that enables drones, unmanned aerial vehicles, helicopters, and aircraft to navigate even without GPS. The startup raised nearly CZK 228 million (USD 9.3 million) in a Series A funding round led by Draper Associates, the international venture capital firm. The funding will be used to further develop Vermeer’s products and scale its production capabilities.
Rockaway Ventures, a venture capital fund focused on technology startups—particularly those applying artificial intelligence to the internet economy, energy, manufacturing, and defense sectors—expands its portfolio to 13 companies with this investment. Vermeer also represents another dual-use technology investment for the fund, following its stake in CulturePulse, a US–Slovak startup using AI for behavioral modeling and risk prediction.
Navigating Without GPS
Vermeer’s core product, the Visual Positioning System (VPS), allows drones and other aerial vehicles to determine their exact position even when satellite navigation systems are unavailable. VPS ensures operation in environments where GPS signals are jammed, spoofed, intentionally disrupted, or completely disabled.
The technology mimics how humans navigate: drones use onboard cameras to analyze their surroundings and compare what they “see” to a database of visual landmarks. In practice, VPS uses up to four electro-optical or infrared cameras combined with pre-generated 2D or 3D maps. As a passive system independent of signal reception, it can accurately determine position even in GPS-denied or spoofed environments—making it suitable for both civilian and defense applications.
“Developing advanced technologies in a war zone is not easy, but it’s the only way to validate them in real-world conditions,” says Brian Streem, CEO of Vermeer. “Working with our partners directly on the frontlines has forced us to innovate faster, build smarter, and focus on what truly works in combat. Our goal isn’t just to deploy drones at scale—we want to give them precision, intelligence, and purpose. We’re proud to have earned the trust of more than 30 customers, and with the support of Draper and our venture partners, we’re ready to take this mission to the next level.”
A Vision Backed by Draper Associates – a Silicon Valley Legend
Rockaway Ventures invested alongside Draper Associates, one of the most prominent venture capital firms in Silicon Valley. With over four decades of experience, Draper Associates has backed world-renowned companies including Tesla, Skype, Coinbase, and SpaceX, and continues to invest in transformative technologies spanning AI, robotics, blockchain, aerospace, and healthcare.
“Dual-use technologies accelerate progress across both defense and commercial sectors—and many of these innovations are already proving their value,” says Andy Tang, Partner at Draper Associates. “We backed Vermeer because of its remarkable success in strengthening Ukraine’s drone fleet. Its AI-driven visual positioning system uses landmarks, stars, and other reference points to determine a drone’s location without GPS, making drones more resilient to jamming, spoofing, and other electronic attacks. It’s a game-changer for drone navigation accuracy and has countless applications beyond defense—from autonomous vehicles to long-range delivery.”
“GPS changed the world by enabling global positioning, but it started as a niche technology and gradually became a foundation for everything,” adds Petr Šmíd, General Partner at Rockaway Ventures. “Vermeer’s navigation system has a similar character—it’s easy to use, hard to disrupt, and ready to scale. Unlike GPS, however, it doesn’t rely on radio signals and continues to function even when GPS is jammed or unavailable. We believe this unique technology will become the standard for drones, robots, and autonomous systems—and the backbone of the next generation of autonomy.”
“When assessing investments, we look for technologies with the potential to transform entire industries,” Šmíd continues. “Vermeer’s partnerships with drone manufacturers, such as Draganfly—which is integrating Vermeer’s VPS into its Commander 3XL model for GPS-denied environments—show how relevant and critical this solution already is for the defense sector.”
From Film Sets to Defense Technology
Vermeer was founded by Brian Streem, an American entrepreneur who began his career in the film industry in New York. In 2014, he founded Aerocine Ventures (later Aerobo), a company specializing in drone cinematography that worked on productions for Netflix, HBO, and major Hollywood studios.
The tools originally developed for film production—designed to help visualize complex aerial shots—soon attracted the attention of the U.S. Department of Defense. In 2018, Streem and his team founded Vermeer to adapt the technology for defense and autonomous applications. Since then, the company has secured its first defense contracts and expanded into industrial and aerospace sectors.
Alongside Streem, who serves as CEO and has relocated to Kyiv to oversee operations, the founding team includes CTO Suresh Kumar, a veteran with over a decade of experience in unmanned systems and former CTO at Aerobo. Kumar now leads Vermeer’s navigation stack and oversees VPS integration across multiple platforms.