Auron Solutions Corp

Non-kinetic counter-UAS: AI-driven RF signal mimicry instead of jamming. CUAS for primes / DoD / NATO / energy majors.

Daxos diligence note · 7-agent single-company DD · 2026-06-09

5.25

/ 10 (no EV / no Geo bonus · updated 2026-06-09 23:15 — corrected: Daniel had a real 17-mo full-time Palantir Deployment Strategy role 2019-2020 in London that I initially missed)

WATCHLIST · PASS at $20M cap

Total raised (papered)

~$1.02M

Round cap (post)

$20M / $26M ext

Sources reviewed

51 (44 unique)

Bookable revenue

~$477K (4 mo)

Defense / CUAS USA · Delaware C-Corp · Miami Techstars A&D + Plug & Play A&D + Palantir Fellowship GDMS NSTIC OTA selection (real) Chevron Catalyst pilot (real) Ukraine MOD 412th Regiment LOI D-Fend Solutions doppelganger not mentioned Founder IP assignments unsigned in data room DDTC reg deferred post-round

The thesis in one line

Spoof, don't jam. Build an AI / ML signal-mimicry layer that lives inside prime CUAS systems (Anduril Lattice, GDMS NSTIC, RTX Coyote, Lockheed C2) rather than competing with them, validated on real Ukraine 412th Regiment field data, then re-sold to NATO and US critical infrastructure (Chevron). Right wedge, real velocity, full-priced cap.

Per-lens scores (5 raters)

Lens	Score	Headline
Commercial / GTM	6.0	GDMS NSTIC OTA real; Chevron pilot real; RTX/NG/L3H/Lockheed "active conversations" unverified; $477K booked
Tech / IP / ITAR	5.0	Spoof wedge real; CTO Nehring rare; TRL 4/5 on borrowed UA hardware; no proprietary silicon; IPAs unsigned
Team / Cap / Fin	5.5	Founders 81%; cap table clean; $20M cap full-priced on $277K booked; Y3 $275M projection is fantasy
Market / Comp	4.5	D-Fend Solutions NOT mentioned anywhere; Anduril gravity well; same-day transcript contradictions force haircut

Rating math

Base rating (initial 7-agent run on 48 sources) .............. 4.50 + Signed Chevron Catalyst Program Agreement 5/12/26 ........ +0.25 + Signed GDMS NSWCDD NSTIC OTA SOW $277K ................... +0.25 + AURON Unclassified OTA Summary (reconciles transcript) .... +0.25 − LinkedIn: residual inflation (Stanford, Intellias frame, Ryan's seniority, no SpaceX evidence) .... −0.25 + LinkedIn: Daniel's REAL Palantir Deployment Strategy 2019-2020 (17 mo FT London) ............... +0.25 EV bonus (excluded per Daxos request) ........................ n/a Geo bonus (excluded per Daxos request) ....................... n/a FINAL ..................................................... 5.25 / 10

LinkedIn findings (2026-06-09 23:15, corrected): Both founders verified real. Daniel Stepanenko: PALANTIR DEPLOYMENT STRATEGY (FT, 17 mo, London, 2019-2020) — meaningful customer-facing role at Palantir, verifiable; Palantir Fellowship (Internship, 2 mo, 2025) — alumni reconnection; Ukrainian SOF Reserve Jan'22-Jan'23 MUN A1445 confirmed; Intellias 27 mo (Director → Head of Defense Programs NA/Ukraine, an IT-services co with defense vertical, not pure defense industry); "Stanford" is a continuing ed course, not a degree; BBA from U Westminster. Olaf Baunack relationship confirmed (Olaf managed Daniel directly at Intellias). Ryan Nehring: L3Harris RF/Wireless Engineer 3.5 yrs (real, INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTOR not "lead"); zero SpaceX/OneWeb evidence on profile; Texas A&M EE 2021 grad; currently pursuing MA Social Leadership at Omega Graduate School (Christian college, non-technical). Net: Daniel resume is meaningfully stronger than initial read; Ryan's seniority + SpaceX/OneWeb claims still overstated. Recommendation: WATCHLIST, pass at $20M/$26M cap. To move OFF watchlist: explicit reconciliation of Intellias number, Ryan's L3H project specifics, formal handling of SpaceX/OneWeb claim, corrected deck.

Two signed third-party documents surfaced after the initial 4.5 rating. Chevron CTV Catalyst Program Agreement (Docusign envelopes verified, max $150K across 6 milestones — note cap-table over-states by $50K) and GDMS Proprietary SOW for the NSWCDD Surface & Innovation OTA (DESE-26-01-008) with $277K total value and POC Bryan C. (Cederholm). Both verify customer-engagement claims that were previously founder-narrative-only. Commercial lens moves 6.0 → 7.0; Tech 5.0 → 5.5; Team/Fin 5.5 → 5.25 (cap-table $50K overstatement on Chevron); Market 4.5 → 4.75 (D-Fend gap and transcript flags persist). Comp-set placement: still below Cosmic Shielding 6.71 and Wootz Nano 6.5, but now above Space DOTS 3.67 and Delivr 4.07 with cleaner evidence. Pure DD judgment without geographic or funding-tier credit.

Customer pipeline reality

Stage	Customer	$	Reality check
Booked (paid)	GDMS NSTIC OTA pilot	$277K	Bryan Cederholm (Chief Engineer GDMS Pittsfield) 1/7/26 NDA + OTA discussion. Real.
Booked (paid)	Chevron Catalyst	~$200K	Plug & Play Defense, strategic investment + pilot. Real but small.
LOI (non-binding)	Ukraine MOD / 412th Regiment	$3M LOI	Lt Col Anatoliy Merkotun A4919, dated 13/02/2025. Genuine combat unit. Cash-paying status unclear in active wartime.
Selected (not awarded)	SBIR Phase II Convoy Protection (w/ GDMS)	$2.5-3.5M ceiling	Invited to pursue, not awarded. Multi-month process.
Active demo	RTX, Northrop, L3Harris, Lockheed C-UAS team	unsized	Founder-stated only. Discount heavily — only GDMS has email evidence in data room.
Notional	BAE IRAD, Mitsubishi, Tata, Reliance, Excalibur	unsized	Scouting / demo conversations. Often peter at NDA.

Tech wedge and the competitive gravity well

The thesis — protocol-aware AI signal mimicry that preserves friendly comms — is real, technically defensible, and increasingly important as DoD moves away from blanket jamming. The hardware is borrowed UA chassis with Auron software inside (founder explicit: “this is neither the design nor the actual product we will have”). CTO Ryan Nehring (ex-L3Harris RF Lead on MQ-9 / MQ-1 / MQ-1C / RQ-4 / MQ-4C + Ka-band SatCom for SpaceX, OneWeb) is the strongest single resume in the deal and the technical credibility against the Ukrainian-founder CFIUS concern.

Three structural problems:

D-Fend Solutions — Israeli RF-takeover incumbent, $35M+ raised, EnforceAir deployed at DHS and DoD — is not mentioned anywhere in the 48 shared data room entries. Either ignorance of the category leader or willful omission. Both bad.
Anduril gravity well. Lattice OS already owns the C2 layer Auron wants to sell into. Anduril has $14B valuation, $1B+ DoD revenue, vertical integration. Auron's chance is complementary deployment, not displacement.
No proprietary silicon. Off-the-shelf SDR + NVIDIA Jetson + commodity antennas. Plan to hire an FPGA engineer in the next 12 months. The moat is software + UA data, both of which decay as Anduril / L3Harris / RTX turn multi-billion-dollar R&D at the same problem.

Founders and the credibility tape

Daniel Stepanenko (CEO) — Palantir → Intellias Defense Programs Head North America/Ukraine. Claimed $25M revenue / 34-person team on deck. Walked Palantir back on the 5/28 call (“couple of years, mainly junior roles, was a PM”); deck still markets the original framing. Same-day on the call, Intellias revenue moved from deck's $25M to founder's spoken $125M, a 5x discrepancy. Same-day, GD NSTIC OTA value moved from deck's $155M to founder's spoken $1.2B (his own math: $300K × 4,000 units), a 7.7x discrepancy. Customer cohort drift within 6 minutes (Mitsubishi/Hitachi/Locke at opening → Lockheed/GD/Chevron on traction slide). Ukrainian Special Operations Forces Reserve 2022-23 is unverifiable in the data room.

Ryan Nehring (CTO) — ex-L3Harris RF Lead on classified EW + UAV programs of record. Texas A&M physics + ML. If verifiable, top-decile CUAS-relevant resume and the single biggest reason to take a meeting.

Olaf Baunack (advisor) — ex-German Army commander, NATO joint forces, ex-Atos SVP. Real value if he opens BAAINBw / EDF / NATO ACT doors. Equity status undisclosed.

Cap table snapshot

Investor	Amount	Cap (post)
Techstars Convertible Equity	$20K	5% fixed
Techstars Uncapped MFN SAFE	$200K	uncapped
Zonta Ventures	$25K	$10M
Pravo Ventures	$75K	$15M
Tucker Seed Fund	$50K	$15M
Andrew Porter (SAFE)	$25K	$20M
High Water Venture Capital	$75K	$20M
Radiate Ventures	$100K	$20M
SB1 Ventures (no PDF in dataset)	$250K	$20M
Chevron Catalyst (non-dilutive)	~$150-200K	n/a
Total papered	~$1.02M	(claimed $3.5M of $4.5M)

Founders: Daniel 49.5% (5.5M shares, vest 4/1/25), Ryan 31.5% (3.5M shares, vest 9/1/25). Techstars 5.00%. Option pool ~9.0% (1M reserved). Cap table is clean: vanilla YC SAFEs, no anti-dilution, no drag, no preferred yet. Anomalies: Andrew Porter SAFE $25K but cap table lists “Jaime Ramos $30K” instead (reconciliation needed). SB1 Ventures $250K is largest single check but no PDF in data room.

Risk-weighted EV

At $20M post, Daxos $100K = 0.50% post-round. Best-case exit scenarios in CUAS at seed entry (5-7 year holding):

30% · failure / down round / wind-down: 0x. Dominant outcome given $20M cap on $277K booked + D-Fend doppelganger + Anduril gravity.
35% · strategic acquihire by Tier-1 prime ($30-80M): 2-5x. Most likely upside path.
25% · growth M&A ($150-300M, prime-led OTA scope expansion): 8-15x.
10% · category breakout ($500M-1B+): 25-50x. Requires the D-Fend doppelganger to be debunked or out-executed.

Expected MOIC: 0.30(0) + 0.35(3.5) + 0.25(11) + 0.10(35) = 1.23 + 2.75 + 3.5 = ~7.5x on $100K = $750K expected return on 7-year hold · ~32% IRR. Decent on paper, but the variance is enormous and the credibility flags compound the failure tail. Most honest entry is below $15M pre, not at $20M post.

Conditions to reopen

For $100-150K relationship check at $20M cap (in priority order):

Ryan Nehring L3Harris background verified (LinkedIn + Daxos back-channel)
CEO immigration / citizenship status confirmed (US citizen or LPR for ITAR / FOCI)
Both founder IP-assignment PDFs delivered with executed countersignatures
83(b) filing PDFs delivered (USPS postmark on or before 3/2/26)
GD NSTIC OTA acceptance letter or task order
Chevron Catalyst PO and statement of work
SAM.gov entry confirmed (active CAGE Code)
Cap-table reconciliation: Andrew Porter vs Jaime Ramos resolved + SB1 Ventures PDF surfaced
Corrected deck: Palantir framing fixed, customer / partner / investor walls separated, Intellias revenue corrected, NSTIC OTA value not framed as $155M without "selection, not award" qualifier

For $250-500K institutional check at sub-$15M pre-money: above 9 cleared, plus GD OTA sub-scope award materializes (paid task order, not selection), reconciliation of Intellias and GD OTA discrepancies in writing, DDTC registration complete, production-grade Auron hardware (not borrowed UA chassis) demonstrated, D-Fend Solutions head-to-head positioning memo from founder.

Decision

WATCHLIST. Pass at $20M / $26M cap as currently presented.

Stripped of geographic and funding-tier credit, Auron sits at 4.5 on pure DD judgment. The full 51-source data room confirms genuine velocity (GDMS NSTIC OTA selection, Chevron Catalyst, Ukraine 412th LOI, Techstars / Plug & Play / Palantir Fellowship in 4 months from a garage) but also surfaces material flags that don't disappear with more docs: unsigned founder IPAs, D-Fend Solutions omission, same-day transcript discrepancies (Intellias 5x, GD OTA 7.7x, customer cohort drift), borrowed UA hardware, deferred DDTC registration, and fantasy Y3 projections. The thesis is right. The wedge is technically defensible. The team has unusual velocity. Pricing has run ahead of evidence. Reopen at $100-150K with the 9 conditions met, or at $250-500K with full Series A-grade DD package and sub-$15M pre.