Investment Spotlight: Prandtl Dynamics, LA33

As drones become cheaper and more capable, they're increasingly being used in ways that pose serious risks to safety, privacy, and critical infrastructure.

Prandtl Dynamics protects against drones using sound. Their tech is non-lethal and legal, making it one of the only counter-drone systems that can be used by the private sector and non-military customers.

How It Works:

• Drones rely on sensors and onboard computers to navigate.
• Prandtl disrupts these systems using ultrasonic waves—high-frequency sound waves inaudible to humans.
• These waves scramble a drone’s ability to orient itself, disrupting navigation, altitude readings, and camera feeds.
• This can redirect, force a landing, or completely disable the drone.

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The team behind this? Three college students from the University of Toronto. Parth Mahendru, Anna Poletaeva, and Michael Acquaviva started testing the idea in their backyard using repurposed car speakers. That early prototype evolved into a working system that went on to outperform defense industry giants.

In the fall of 2024, Prandtl entered Canada’s CUAS Sandbox, a counter-drone competition run by the Department of National Defence. Prandtl placed second, beating out big names like Boeing and Teledyne, and secured $270,000 USD (CAD $375,000) in non-dilutive funding.

We brought the Prandtl team on This Week in Startups to talk about how they built their technology, how it works, and what’s next. Jason offered on air to write their first check, and we welcomed them into LAUNCH Accelerator’s 33rd cohort with a $125K investment.

(You can watch the full episode here: TWiST Video.)

Prandtl is now preparing for public demos with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the U.S. military’s IWTSD program, and a major airport in Switzerland. The team is also planning a U.S. move to open an office and fabrication facility as they prepare to scale.

If you would like an intro to the founders, click here!

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