# Ornadyne

[Ornadyne on Hacklab](https://hacklab.so/org/ornadyne)

Startup · 2 people on Hacklab

## Links

- [Website](https://ornadyne.com/)
- [Y Combinator](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/ornadyne)
- [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/ornadyne/)

## About

<!-- hacklab:yc-profile -->

## YC company profile

We're building robot birds for surveillance.

Ornadyne builds flapping-wing drones for reconnaissance that look, fly, and sound like birds.

Today’s drones are easy to detect acoustically, visually, and electronically. As counter-UAS systems improve, traditional quadcopters and fixed-wing UAS systems are becoming increasingly ineffective for close-range surveillance.  

Flapping-wing aircraft have existed for years, but have lacked the performance, endurance, and control required for real-world deployment. We’re changing that by engineering a high-performance, stealth-optimized system built from first principles for efficiency, autonomy, and reliable field use.

The final frontier of surveillance won’t look like machines; it will look like wildlife already in the sky. 

Maybe birds aren't real?

- **YC batch:** Spring 2026
- **Founded:** 2026
- **Team size:** 4
- **Location:** Los Angeles, CA
- **Country:** US
- **Status:** Active
- **Industry:** Industrials
- **Stage:** Early
- **Tags:** Hard Tech, Robotics, Drones, Aerospace, Defense
- **YC partner:** Aaron Epstein

## Founders

### Geourg Kivijian — Founder/CEO

Co-founder & CEO of Ornadyne. Award-winning engineer (IEEE/AIAA) recognized for pioneering work in flapping-wing robotics. Previously led coordination systems for Mars Sample Return at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and lunar rovers at Astrolab. Now scaling Ornadyne to bring bio-inspired stealth and efficiency to the next generation of flight. www.geourgkivijian.com

[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/geourg-kivijian/) · [X](https://x.com/geourgkivijian)

### Armen Arakelyan — Founder/CTO

Co-founder & CTO at Ornadyne, building autonomous flapping-wing aircraft. Previously a Starship components engineer at SpaceX. Before that, I led machining at USC Rocket Propulsion Laboratory at the University of Southern California, helping the team set the amateur rocketry altitude world record at 144 km.

[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/armen-arakelyan-171b71219/)

[Source: Y Combinator](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/ornadyne) · Retrieved 2026-11-02. Company information is self-reported on YC.

## Current staff

- [Armen Arakelyan](https://hacklab.so/armen-arakelyan) — Founder/CTO (Present)
- [Geourg Kivijian](https://hacklab.so/geourg-kivijian) — Founder/CEO (Present)