Y Combinator backs Swedish drone startup

The startup Tenet Industries, founded by three students in Stockholm (Sweden), was recently accepted into the Y Combinator accelerator. In an interview with NDS, the company explains how it aims to meet Europe's drone needs through large-scale, cost-effective production.

Y Combinator is a startup accelerator that invests capital in early-stage companies in exchange for a minority ownership stake. The programme also includes advisory support, mentorship, and access to a network of investors and entrepreneurs. Accepted companies participate for a limited period and have the opportunity to present their businesses to investors at the end of the programme.

The Swedish drone startup Tenet Industries is run by three students from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology and the Stockholm School of Economics, and recently became one of the few Nordic defence companies to receive backing from Y Combinator. The total funding amounts to 500,000 US dollars per company. The investment is made in two stages. In the first stage, 125,000 dollars is invested in exchange for a fixed ownership stake of seven per cent. In the second stage, the remaining capital is added, with terms to be determined in a later funding round. At the time of the interview, the company was awaiting the funds, citing administrative processing.

"It is of course very exciting when we received the news, but now it is about continuing to push forward," says Hugo Frisk, CEO and co-founder of Tenet Industries, in an interview with NDS.

Hugo Frisk, Fabian Andersson, and Emil Falk founded the company five months ago, and the team currently consists of five people.

Tenet Industries aims to develop drones that can be mass-produced at low cost, and has among other things developed its own hardware and software platform optimised for automated manufacturing. The goal is to enable rapid scaling of production, reduce costs, and increase availability.

"The background to the company is that we see this as one of the most important problems in Europe right now. Ukraine is planning to build seven million drones this year. At the same time, one might ask how many we have in Sweden. The figure is around one thousand, and they are not intended for combat use," he says, and continues:

"If Sweden were to be attacked, we simply do not have enough drones to defend ourselves. Stocks would run out within an hour. To solve that, you need to be able to produce very large volumes. We believe this is partly a critical issue, and partly that the production problem itself is fascinating. It is difficult, but it must be solved, and that is what we want to do," says Hugo.

According to Hugo, the starting point is that design and production must be optimised for volume and simplicity, rather than functionality alone.

"It is about thinking of this as something that will be produced in large quantities. You then design for that."

The inspiration comes in part from the software industry, where tools can be more flexible and developer-driven than in traditional manufacturing.

"If you look at a programmer, they are very efficient, and that is because they can develop their own tools," he says.

As product development cycles become shorter, he argues that manufacturing lines must also be able to change at the same pace.

"To be able to build products that change, say every two weeks, you also need a production line that changes every two weeks."

In addition to contacts with Swedish customers, the company is also in discussions with actors in Ukraine.

"Ukraine has, in this respect, a very streamlined process. Essentially, you fill in a form, state which product it concerns, the price, and what capabilities it has. If the product meets the requirements, it can be approved and integrated into their system," says Hugo, and continues:

"They have in practice managed to make that entire process work and have standardised it."

Do you believe that you as a company, and Europe more broadly, have the capacity to mass-produce affordable drones?

"Yes, absolutely. There are very good production opportunities and above all many high-quality components. Compared with the United States, the same type of drone built with American components would cost around 10,000 Swedish kronor. In Europe, we can build a drone for around 3,000 kronor, and we see ourselves as the most affordable option in Europe," he says.

How do you achieve the lowest cost?

"You design things from scratch. In practical terms, that means we have simplified and integrated the design so that the number of parts goes from approximately 30 to 14. We focus on high volume and low margins, and are obsessed with keeping costs down."

Do you work with 3D printing?

"No. Many companies use it in the drone world. You can see the advantages, but we prefer plastic casting, injection moulding, and milling, as it is cheaper. We do use 3D printing when developing prototypes, but for mass production we use injection moulding," says Hugo.