September, 2025
It’s quite rare to meet someone who changes your worldview over an hour long meeting. That’s exactly what Lorenz Meier did when I sat down with him at Auterion’s Zurich office earlier this year.
He reinforced the simple yet non-obvious notion of drones being nothing but flying computers and that Auterion is building the open operating system + suite of AI based autonomous applications for them. Similar to what Microsoft did for PC and Android for mobile phones.
However, Auterion wasn’t just stopping at powering drones. Their computers, OS and AI apps are also powering autonomous systems on-land, on-sea and under-sea. They’re effectively building the fully autonomous battlefield of the future. Auterion, with the largest open source community for drone engineers and being the breeding ground for open standards like Mavlink, Pixhawk, PX4, is leading this revolution in battlefield autonomy.
Moreover, anyone with the pleasure of knowing Lorenz is aware that he is resolute in Auterion’s mission to ensure the West has the most sophisticated technology in a world that is getting only more challenging. Si vis pacem, para bellum.
A deeply technical product, with network effects, and a CEO + team chasing a mission larger than themselves -- count Bessemer Venture Partners in.
With that, Bessemer Venture Partners is leading Auterion’s $130M series B. And I am thrilled to work with Lorenz and team alongside Alex Ferrara and David Cowan.