SE3, a Munich company that makes software to coordinate drones and ground vehicles, has raised a $30 million Series A led by Accel, with Keen, Lakestar and Seedcamp participating, according to a TNW report published November 12, 2026. The round comes about five months after SE3 left stealth with a €5.5 million seed round, the report says.

What SE3 makes

  • Its software connects drones and ground vehicles from different manufacturers and merges their sensor data into a shared 3D picture of the environment, then adjusts each system’s behavior, routes and positions to the terrain, according to TNW. Operators give commands by voice.
  • It runs on the edge, which TNW says matters where satellite navigation is jammed, and runs on Auterion’s Skynode computers.
  • Partners named in the report are HENSOLDT, Auterion and ERC System.

Customers and claims

  • TNW reports that SE3 is deployed in Ukraine, has multiple contracts there and works with Germany’s Bundeswehr. The number and value of contracts are not given.
  • The company says it has shipped thousands of systems in the past two years, a claim TNW does not verify.

Origins and plans

  • SE3 spun out of Professor Daniel Cremers’ computer vision lab at the Technical University of Munich. Co-founders Lukas Köstler, the chief executive, and Simon Klenk were PhD students there; Cremers is chief science officer.
  • The money is for hiring in engineering, commercial and operations roles, opening a UK office and expanding in Germany and Ukraine.
  • Defense remains the focus. From 2027 the company plans to apply the same software to robotics, emergency response and other settings, according to TNW.
  • Köstler said: “Working in defence means our technology has to deliver under pressure in the field.”

What was not disclosed

The report does not give a valuation, headcount, revenue, per-investor amounts, seed investors or the value of any contract.

Sources and notes

This post is based on TNW’s article of November 12, 2026. Lens read it as extracted text and did not see an SE3 or Accel announcement directly. Lens did not contact SE3 or its investors.

Image: the Technical University of Munich’s main building on Arcisstraße, Andreas Praefcke, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. SE3 spun out of a TUM lab; the building is shown for illustration.