Fundraising FoxNear Earth Autonomy
Pittsburgh, US · Delaware corporation · 1 known investors
Find your way into Near Earth Autonomy
Sign up to see every warm intro you have to Near Earth Autonomy
- Paths you didn't know you had: your email and LinkedIn already hold routes to the Near Earth Autonomy team. We find them for you
- 2nd- and 3rd-degree connections: the friend-of-a-friend routes that take hours to manually find through your inbox or LinkedIn
- Answers now, not in days: momentum is everything in a raise. Skip asking around whether someone knows someone
Days of research, done the moment you sign in, with every route ranked by how warm it is.
Near Earth Autonomy builds autonomous pilot systems, marketed as "Captain," that let aircraft fly missions with reduced or no onboard crew, certified up to the highest airworthiness standards. It integrates, validates, and supports these systems across existing and new aircraft platforms for aviation and defense operators.
Founders & leadership
LC
Lyle ChamberlainPrincipal Engineer, Co-founderHe holds a BS in Engineering and Applied Science from Caltech and spent over eight years as engineering staff at Carnegie Mellon's Field Robotics Center before co-founding the company, where he has led development and integration of autonomy systems for multiple aircraft platforms.
SS
Sebastian SchererCo-founder · Senior Scientist2013–2025Sebastian Scherer is an Executive Officer at Near Earth Autonomy, which develops autonomous pilot systems for crewed and uncrewed aircraft. His background includes work in robotics, autonomous systems, obstacle avoidance, and mission planning.
MB
Marcel BergermanNamed on SEC filing
Board
CT
Charles ToupsBoard director
Investors · 1
Reported raises · per SEC filings
Form D private placements$9M disclosed across 2 rounds · 2017–2022
▶$1MraisedMay 2022 · 1 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
▶$1MraisedMay 2022 · 1 investors · Other Technology
Rule 506(b)Officers, directors & promoters on the filing
- Marcel BergermanExecutive Officer, Director
- Sebastian SchererExecutive Officer, Promoter
- Lyle ChamberlainExecutive Officer, Director, Promoter
- Sanjiv SinghExecutive Officer, Director, Promoter
- Gur KimchiDirector
- Laurence Vigeant-LangloisDirector
- Offering amount
- $1M
- Amount sold
- $1M
- First sale
- Apr 2022
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
▶$8MraisedOct 2017 · 1 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
▶$8MraisedOct 2017 · 1 investors · Other Technology
Rule 506(b)Officers, directors & promoters on the filing
- Charles ToupsDirector
- Sanjiv SinghExecutive Officer, Director, Promoter
- Lyle ChamberlainExecutive Officer, Director, Promoter
- Sebastian SchererExecutive Officer, Promoter
- Marcel BergermanExecutive Officer, Director
- Offering amount
- $8M
- Amount sold
- $8M
- First sale
- Oct 2017
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
Source: SEC EDGAR Form D. Amounts as filed; amended filings shown once at their latest values.
Founder mafia
2 people who came through Near Earth Autonomy went on to found or lead other companies.
Related companies · 3
AvincAV builds integrated defense systems for allied military operators, including unmanned aircraft, loitering munitions, counter-UAS systems, ISR, directed energy, and autonomy software across air, land, sea, and space domains. The company reports more than 50,000 deployments across over 55 countries.
Near Space LabsNear Space Labs provides high-resolution 7cm geospatial imagery captured from stratospheric altitudes, serving government, utilities, insurance, and environmental monitoring applications with frequent data refresh cycles and wide-scale coverage.
American Aerospace TechnologiesAmerican Aerospace Technologies (AATI) builds high-endurance unmanned aircraft systems and airborne sensing solutions, including its AiRanger medium-altitude, long-endurance UAS, and flies beyond-visual-line-of-sight missions in the national airspace. It serves defense, homeland security, and critical infrastructure sectors with services such as pipeline patrol, sensor integration, and UAS policy development across North America and Western Europe.
Companies working in the same space as Near Earth Autonomy.
Non-dilutive funding · 34 SBIR/STTR awards
Federal grants — no equity taken| Agency | Phase | Year | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| NASA | Phase I | 2023 | $149.9K |
| Department of DefenseDefense Health Program | Phase II | 2022 | $1.1M |
| U.S. Air ForceAir Force | Phase II | 2022 | $749.7K |
| U.S. Air ForceAir Force | Phase IISTTR | 2022 | $749.6K |
| U.S. Air ForceAir Force | Phase ISTTR | 2021 | $149.8K |
| U.S. Air ForceAir Force | Phase I | 2021 | $49.9K |
| U.S. Air ForceAir Force | Phase I | 2021 | $49.8K |
| U.S. NavyNavy | Phase II | 2020 | $1.7M |
| U.S. ArmyArmy | Phase II | 2020 | $1.1M |
| U.S. ArmyArmy | Phase II | 2020 | $758.5K |
| NASA | Phase II | 2020 | $754.6K |
| U.S. Air ForceAir Force | Phase I | 2020 | $50K |
| U.S. NavyNavy | Phase IISTTR | 2019 | $1000K |
| NASA | Phase II | 2019 | $738.5K |
| U.S. ArmyArmy | Phase I | 2019 | $145.8K |
| NASA | Phase I | 2019 | $124.7K |
| NASA | Phase I | 2018 | $124.9K |
| U.S. NavyNavy | Phase ISTTR | 2018 | $124.8K |
| Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency | Phase II | 2017 | $1.8M |
| U.S. NavyNavy | Phase II | 2017 | $1.1M |
| NASA | Phase II | 2017 | $701.2K |
| U.S. NavyNavy | Phase ISTTR | 2017 | $224.8K |
| U.S. NavyNavy | Phase ISTTR | 2017 | $125K |
| NASA | Phase II | 2016 | $749.4K |
| NASA | Phase I | 2016 | $124.9K |
| U.S. NavyNavy | Phase ISTTR | 2016 | $79.9K |
| Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency | Phase II | 2015 | $1.5M |
| Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency | Phase II | 2015 | $994.2K |
| NASA | Phase I | 2015 | $124.9K |
| U.S. NavyNavy | Phase I | 2015 | $80K |
| National Science Foundation | Phase ISTTR | 2014 | $224.8K |
| NASA | Phase I | 2014 | $124.6K |
| U.S. NavyNavy | Phase I | 2014 | $79.8K |
| U.S. Air ForceAir Force | Phase I | 2013 | $149.6K |
Source: SBIR.gov award data (U.S. Small Business Administration). SBIR/STTR awards are competitive federal R&D grants and contracts — non-dilutive capital alongside any venture rounds above.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Near Earth Autonomy do?
- Near Earth Autonomy builds autonomous pilot systems, marketed as "Captain," that let aircraft fly missions with reduced or no onboard crew, certified up to the highest airworthiness standards. It integrates, validates, and supports these systems across existing and new aircraft platforms for aviation and defense operators.
- Who founded Near Earth Autonomy?
- Near Earth Autonomy was founded by Sanjiv Singh, Lyle Chamberlain, Sebastian Scherer.
- Who are Near Earth Autonomy's investors?
- Near Earth Autonomy's investors include Boeing HorizonX Ventures.
- How much funding has Near Earth Autonomy raised?
- Near Earth Autonomy has disclosed $9M raised across 2 rounds.
- Where is Near Earth Autonomy headquartered?
- Near Earth Autonomy is headquartered in Pittsburgh, US.