1/ His cameras helped you watch your pets. Now they help kill Russian drones.
Y Combinator alum abandons Silicon Valley for wartime Ukraine.
Meet Odd Systems—where pet tech became defense tech overnight. 🧵⤵️
2/ Yaroslav Azhnyuk, 2016:
—First Ukrainian in @ycombinator
—Built @Petcube—watch your dog from work.
Yaroslav Azhnyuk, 2024:
—Launches Odd Systems.
—Builds thermal cameras that turn consumer drones into precision weapons.
Pet entrepreneur → defense CEO in 24 months.⤵️
3/ His company makes something seemingly simple but devastatingly effective:
Thermal cameras for drones.
Their Kurbas-256 isn't just better than Chinese competitors—it's CHEAPER.
Wartime Ukraine now mass-produces world-class night vision. ⤵️
4/ Odd Systems has just partnered with Terma Group—Denmark's largest defense company—to build AI-powered drone interceptors.
Think about that: Drones hunting other drones. Autonomously. And soon at scale. ⤵️
5/ This partnership is part of the DANISH MODEL—possibly the smartest military aid strategy of this war.
Denmark decided to aid cities, companies, and people directly—without meddling middlemen from Kyiv. ⤵️
6/ Here's how it works:
Denmark audits Ukrainian defense companies, then:
—Ukraine picks what it needs built
—Denmark invests the money directly
—Weapons roll off Ukrainian production lines
Result: Faster, cheaper, and it keeps Ukraine's economy alive during wartime. ⤵️
7/ Terma's VP put it clearly:
Ukraine delivers at "a pace and cost unmatched by Western manufacturers."
While Western companies take credit for sending one drone to Ukraine, Ukrainian engineers iterate based on today's combat footage.
⤵️terma.com
8/ Back to Odd Systems. They're not just making cameras—they've built:
—Horska-12 (interceptor drone)
—Stus-7 & Lupynis-10 (strike drones)
"Odd Systems aims to make Ukraine a world leader in this 'sport'," of stopping tyrannical invaders, Azhnyuk says. ⤵️
9/ Think about @YaroslavAzhnyuk's journey:
2013: Building pet cameras in Kyiv cafes
2016: Y Combinator in Silicon Valley
2022: Racing home as missiles fall
2024: Stopping Russians with those cameras
Thanks to @DefenderMediaUA for the story!
🧵🎬thedefender.media/en/2025/07/odd…
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