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URSA
Techstars '18Exeter, US · 2 employees on LinkedIn · 1 known investors
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URSA Secure builds formal methods software to verify AI-generated code before production, helping companies reduce rework, prevent incidents, and accelerate modernization of large codebases. The toolkit applies formal verification techniques to prove software behavior and behavioral equivalence in AI-assisted development.
Also known as URSA Inc. · URSA Secure
Investors · 1
How we know: the Techstars portfolio · open dataset · Top 3000 Accelerator Startups (no YC) 2026-08 · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us
Company profile
researched Sep 2026URSA, operating publicly as URSA Secure, is a small software company that applies formal methods to software verification. Its current product, FMToolkit, is marketed as a way to prove software behavior and behavioral equivalence before AI-generated code reaches production, with stated benefits including reduced manual regression testing during modernization, prevention of production incidents, and faster refactoring of large codebases through automated verification.
The company was founded in the 2017-2018 period in Exeter, New Hampshire, by David Kovar, who previously worked in digital forensics and cyber security from the mid-1990s, led EY's U.S. incident response program, and is described as a founder of the practice of UAV forensics in 2015. Its earlier product, Idetic, was an autonomous systems intelligence platform that processed large volumes of autonomous systems event data to produce insights about system behavior such as flight paths, serving UAS and counter-UAS analytics use cases across agribusiness, security and emergency response. The company participated in the Techstars Air Force accelerator and has been described as serving sectors including agriculture, medical devices, airspace, critical infrastructure, defense, public safety and energy.
Founding story
URSA was founded by David Kovar, who holds a BA in Computer Science from Dartmouth and an MA from Fletcher in International Affairs, and who worked in digital forensics and cyber security beginning in the mid-1990s and led EY's U.S. incident response program before starting work on URSA. He is credited with founding the practice of UAV forensics in 2015. Early team members included Webb Scales, senior architect and developer, with over thirty years of software engineering experience spanning device drivers, run-time libraries, virtual machines and applications.
Business model
URSA develops and licenses software products to enterprise and government customers. Its earlier Idetic platform was offered as an analytics platform for autonomous systems event data, and its current FMToolkit is positioned as verification software applied within customer software development and modernization workflows. Third-party company data classifies the model as a platform with recurring software revenue serving enterprise and government customers.
Third-party classification characterizes URSA's revenue as recurring software; the company's own materials do not state pricing.
Traction
The company was reported at prototype-ready stage with three employees in 2018 and five employees as of February 2024, and has been listed at 1-10 employees. It participated in the Techstars Air Force accelerator in 2018 and has received a DARPA Embedded Entrepreneur Initiative contract supporting commercialization of FMToolkit.
Latest developments
URSA Secure has been awarded a DARPA contract under the Embedded Entrepreneur Initiative supporting 12 months of full-time commercialization effort for FMToolkit, working with Capital Factory and a DARPA Senior Commercialization Advisor.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
URSA is a seed-stage company with fewer than ten employees. Third-party company research lists Ursa Space Systems, Arke Aeronautics, Anra Technologies and Airspace Link as similar companies, reflecting its earlier UAS analytics positioning.
URSA's stated approach is the use of formal verification techniques to mathematically prove software behavior and behavioral equivalence, positioned against reliance on manual regression testing and assumption-based validation of AI-generated code.
Technology
The company applies formal methods and automated verification to software, proving behavioral properties and behavioral equivalence between code versions prior to deployment. Its earlier Idetic platform performed analytics on large volumes of autonomous systems event data, extracting individual events from big data to answer questions about system behavior such as flight paths.
Go-to-market
URSA Secure directs prospective customers to contact the company or schedule a conversation directly through its website. Its DARPA Embedded Entrepreneur Initiative award funds 12 months of full-time commercialization effort, conducted with Capital Factory and a DARPA Senior Commercialization Advisor, to accelerate FMToolkit go-to-market and customer traction. Earlier company activity included partnerships and participation in industry initiatives, including collaboration with Kirkwall on agribusiness technology security and support for the ASSURE UAS initiative.
Enterprise and government customers. Current materials target companies shipping AI-generated code and modernizing large codebases, with emphasis on confidence, compliance and speed. Earlier positioning targeted agriculture, medical devices, national and international airspace, critical infrastructure, defense, public safety and energy, including analysts working with autonomous systems data.
Geography
The company is associated with locations in Exeter and Manchester, New Hampshire, United States, and its Techstars profile also lists Exeter, UK and Exeter, Pennsylvania among locations. Third-party classification describes its geographic exposure as global.
History
The company was incorporated as URSA Inc., a Delaware-style C-corp based in Exeter, New Hampshire, with founding dates reported as 2017 and January 2018 across sources. It took part in the Techstars Air Force accelerator in 2018 and was profiled as a seed-stage company with a prototype-ready product, Idetic, an autonomous systems intelligence platform for UAS and counter-UAS analytics. Over time the company's positioning broadened to software and solutions covering cyber security, safety, productivity and continuity across agriculture, medical devices, national and international airspace, critical infrastructure, defense, public safety and energy. It now operates as URSA Secure with FMToolkit, a formal methods toolkit for verifying AI-generated code, and has been awarded a DARPA Embedded Entrepreneur Initiative contract supporting 12 months of full-time commercialization work alongside Capital Factory and a DARPA Senior Commercialization Advisor.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Related companies · 3
Companies working in the same space as URSA.
Non-dilutive funding · 4 SBIR/STTR awards
Federal grants — no equity taken| Agency | Phase | Year | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency | Phase II | 2023 | $1.8M |
| U.S. Air ForceAir Force | Phase II | 2019 | $750K |
| U.S. Air ForceAir Force | Phase I | 2019 | $74.9K |
| U.S. Air ForceAir Force | Phase I | 2019 | $50K |
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.
Timeline · 2
launches, deals, and filingsURSA Secure was awarded a DARPA contract under the Embedded Entrepreneur Initiative supporting 12 months of full-time commercialization effort, working with Capital Factory and a DARPA Senior Commercialization Advisor to advance FMToolkit go-to-market and customer traction.
URSA took part in the Techstars Air Force accelerator program; Techstars is listed as a prior investor in the company.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- URSAursasecure.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does URSA do?
- URSA Secure builds FMToolkit, a formal methods toolkit for verifying the behavior of AI-generated code before production.
- Who are URSA's investors?
- URSA's investors include Techstars.
- Where is URSA headquartered?
- URSA is headquartered in Exeter, US.