Auterion

Auterion is a Swiss startup founded in 2018 in Zurich by engineers who had contributed to the development of PX4 — the leading open-source autopilot for drones — at ETH Zurich. The company develops Auterion OS, a commercial operating system built on PX4 that provides a standardised software layer for drones and autonomous robots, enabling hardware manufacturers to focus on mechanics without building onboard software from scratch. The strategic positioning is clear: in a drone market fragmented across hundreds of hardware manufacturers, Auterion aims to become the common operating system — the "Android of drones" — on which enterprise applications are built for inspection, logistics, security, and defence. The company earned certification under the US Department of Defense's SUAS programme, which approves drones for government use — a barrier few players manage to clear. Compatibility with PX4's open-source ecosystem guarantees a vast developer pool, while the commercial version adds enterprise reliability, dedicated support, and fleet management tools.