Steve Messinger
Co-founder and CTO of Perseus Defense. MS aerospace engineering, Penn State, where he met co-founder Jason Cornelius; a swarm-robotics researcher and competition winner. At Boeing, built autonomy software enabling aircraft to land themselves; also developed collaborative-behavior software for unmanned boats and one-way attack drones for the U.S. military.
Steve Messinger is Co-Founder and CTO of Perseus Defense, a counter-UAS interceptor company he started with Jason Cornelius, whom he met while earning a master's degree in aerospace engineering at Penn State. He began his career as a swarm-robotics researcher, winning multiple swarm-robotics competitions, then worked at Boeing building autonomy software that lets aircraft land themselves. He later moved to EpiSci — acquired by Applied Intuition in February 2025 — where he developed multi-agent autonomy software for unmanned surface vehicle (USV) swarms. At Perseus Defense, he applies that autonomy and swarm-coordination background to the company's low-cost drone-interceptor systems.
Overview
- Role
- Co-Founder & CTO, Perseus Defense
- Based in
- Buda, TX
- Prior experience
- Boeing (autonomy engineering — autonomous aircraft landing), EpiSci (multi-agent autonomy for USV swarms; acquired by Applied Intuition Feb 2025)
Affiliated funds0
No linked records yet.
Frequently asked
- Who is Steve Messinger?
- Steve Messinger is Co-Founder and CTO of Perseus Defense, a counter-UAS interceptor company he started with Jason Cornelius, whom he met while earning a master's degree in aerospace engineering at Penn State. He began his career as a swarm-robotics researcher, winning multiple swarm-robotics competitions, then worked at Boeing building autonomy software that lets aircraft land themselves. He later moved to EpiSci — acquired by Applied Intuition in February 2025 — where he developed multi-agent autonomy software for unmanned surface vehicle (USV) swarms. At Perseus Defense, he applies that autonomy and swarm-coordination background to the company's low-cost drone-interceptor systems.
- What is Steve Messinger's role?
- Steve Messinger is Co-Founder & CTO, Perseus Defense, based in Buda, TX.
- Where did Steve Messinger work before?
- Steve Messinger's prior roles include Boeing (autonomy engineering — autonomous aircraft landing), EpiSci (multi-agent autonomy for USV swarms; acquired by Applied Intuition Feb 2025).
Sources & citations2
Each claim links to its underlying source. Confidence reflects how directly the source supports the claim.
- 1
Co-founder & CTO of Perseus Defense; swarm-robotics researcher and competition winner; built Boeing autonomy software that lets aircraft land themselves; met co-founder Jason Cornelius at Penn State (MS aerospace engineering)
Y Combinator: Perseus Defense: America's Golden Dome for DronesVerified2026-08-07 - 2
Co-founded Perseus Defense (YC S25) with Jason Cornelius
Tectonic Defense: Exclusive: YC-backed Perseus Defense Closes $6M Seed RoundVerified2026-08-07