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Ornadyne

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We're building robot birds for surveillance.

Spring 2026Founded 20264 peopleLos Angeles, CA, USA
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Biomimetic Surveillance DronesHardwareGovernment, military, law enforcement, surveillance contractorsLow competition
Moat
Biomimetic design patents; flapping-wing control algorithms; stealth against detection systems.
Key risk
Export controls and regulatory approval (ITAR); limited commercial use cases; unit economics; competition from established drone makers.
Why now
Counter-UAS systems proliferating; need for covert surveillance; flapping-wing tech now viable.
Competitors
DJI, AeroVironment, traditional military contractors

About

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?

Founders · 2

Geourg Kivijian
Geourg KivijianCo-founder & CEO

Co-founder & CEO of Ornadyne. Award-winning engineer (IEEE/AIAA) recognized for pioneering work in flapping-wing robotics. Previously led coordination systems for Mars Sample Return at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and lunar rovers at Astrolab. Now scaling Ornadyne to bring bio-inspired stealth and efficiency to the next generation of flight. www.geourgkivijian.com

Armen Arakelyan
Armen ArakelyanCo-founder & CTO
SpaceXUSC🎓 University of Southern California

Co-founder & CTO at Ornadyne, building autonomous flapping-wing aircraft. Previously a Starship components engineer at SpaceX. Before that, I led machining at USC Rocket Propulsion Laboratory at the University of Southern California, helping the team set the amateur rocketry altitude world record at 144 km.

IndustrialsDronesHard TechRoboticsDronesAerospace

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