Company profile · 3 min read
Milliray: Sensor fusion for the small-drone threat
Milliray combines millimeter-wave radar, camera and acoustic sensing to detect, track and classify small drones around sensitive sites.
Cofounder of Lazyweb (a16z Speedrun). Previously grew subscriptions and built native ads at Duolingo. Writes First1000 (90,000+ subscribers).
Published · Updated
Milliray builds millimeter-wave radar and sensor systems to detect and track small drones. It fits airports, critical infrastructure, defense and venue operators where low-signature drones create a security problem and false positives make a conventional alert stream unusable.
What it does
Milliray’s current site describes a sensor stack that combines millimeter-wave radar, camera and acoustic inputs to detect, track and classify small UAVs. It can run as a standalone site or as a distributed network, with onboard compute for low-latency detection in all-weather environments. The listed targets range from small quadcopters to autonomous swarms.
The product decision is about the first detection layer. Milliray is not presenting a generic computer-vision model that can be trained on a new camera feed. It is selling hardware and sensor fusion designed around low-signature drones, clutter and perimeter coverage. The current site describes airport, critical-infrastructure and defense deployments with different operating constraints, so a buyer needs a site-specific test rather than a generic “drone detection” demo.
The company’s YC launch describes radar integrated with camera and acoustic arrays and says the system can operate standalone or as part of a network. It also lists support from UK Defence and Security Accelerator, NATO DIANA and the Royal Academy of Engineering. Those are public program and company claims, not an independent detection-rate or false-positive benchmark.
Founder context and tradeoffs
The YC profile identifies Matthew Moore, Thomas Doherty and Jordina Frances de Mas as founders. Their public backgrounds include millimeter-wave radar, atomic and laser physics, automated reasoning and machine learning. That technical mix is directly relevant to the sensor stack.
Pricing is not public. A buyer should ask about detection range, birds and clutter, weather, maintenance, spectrum, integration with existing command systems, data retention and response policy. Detection is only the first part of counter-UAS operations; it does not by itself authorize or execute a response.
Editorial take
I would shortlist Milliray for a site with a defined low-altitude drone threat and an existing security operation that can run a controlled evaluation. The proof should be a known perimeter, known clutter and a shared definition of a useful detection. If the problem is only occasional visibility, a full sensor stack may be more than the site needs.
Quick facts
| Field | Sourced detail |
|---|---|
| Product | Millimeter-wave radar, camera and acoustic sensor stack for small drones |
| Buyers | Airports, critical infrastructure, defense, venues and VIP-protection teams |
| Deployment | Standalone sensor or distributed network; all-weather claim on homepage |
| Pricing | Not publicly listed |
| Main gate | Range, clutter, false positives, integration and response policy |
Sources checked
| Source | Checked |
|---|---|
| YC profile | 2026-09-19 |
| Milliray homepage | 2026-09-19 |
| DroneTector launch | 2026-09-19 |
Cohort context
Milliray is listed in Winter 2026. In our 2026-09-18 directory snapshot, 28 of 199 listed companies in that cohort have YC’s primary industry label Industrials (14.1%). This is a current-directory comparison, not an original intake count or a performance ranking. Nine-cohort dataset.
Public website snapshot
Observed 2026-09-19T16:20:18.774Z in raw homepage HTML. This records visible metadata and advertised links, not agent execution or product quality.
| Signal | Homepage observation |
|---|---|
| Product description metadata | Observed |
| Canonical link | Observed |
| H1 or H2 heading | Observed |
| Typed structured data | Observed |
| Docs/developer link | Not observed in this response |
| Pricing link | Not observed in this response |
| llms.txt link | Not observed in this response |
| Markdown alternate | Not observed in this response |
Public observations · Collection method. Missing links here do not establish that a capability or file is absent elsewhere.
About the author
Cofounder of Lazyweb (a16z Speedrun). Previously grew subscriptions and built native ads at Duolingo. Writes First1000 (90,000+ subscribers).
I cofound Lazyweb and publish Mudpie. This is an owner-written publication, not an independent testing organization. Research notes distinguish observations, sourced reporting and editorial judgment.
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