Opteran

About Opteran

Opteran is a Sheffield, United Kingdom-based company developing biologically-inspired AI by reverse-engineering insect brain algorithms into software for autonomous systems. Founded in 2019 as a spin-out from the University of Sheffield, the company has raised approximately .8 million in funding. Their core technology, Opteran Mind, is a neuromorphic software platform that provides autonomous navigation without requiring GPS, AI training, or data centers—operating on edge devices and learning environments through observation alone. The company leverages "600 million years of evolution to make autonomy as robust and efficient as nature," enabling operation in unstructured, GPS-denied environments with challenging lighting and dynamic conditions. Products include Opteran Sense (vision-based SLAM), Opteran Navigate, and Opteran Control, targeting applications across AGVs, AMRs, drones, robotic arms, autonomous vehicles, and humanoids. Key features include infrastructure-free navigation indoors and outdoors, GPS-free localization in unstructured environments, handling of dynamic lighting, reflections, and featureless spaces, and minimal data generation with basic computational requirements. Opteran has partnered with SAFELOG for warehouse robots, with their Managing Director praising the approach for redefining robot localization with minimal data requirements. The company also partnered with ESA/Airbus for Mars rover navigation, demonstrating the technology's robustness for extreme environments. By mimicking how insects navigate with minimal neural resources, Opteran offers a fundamentally different approach to autonomous systems—one that could enable truly scalable, energy-efficient robots without the massive computational and training requirements of conventional AI.

Key Products & Services

Opteran Mind, Opteran Sense, Opteran Navigate

Industry Sectors