CWRU alum’s startup raises $40M Series A; Alumni Venture Fund invests
Less than three years after launching Aurelius Systems, Case Western Reserve University alumnus Michael LaFramboise (CWR ’18) has raised $40 million in Series A funding for the company.
The San Francisco-based startup, which LaFramboise co-founded and leads as CEO, develops autonomous laser systems that can detect, track and disable drones. The CWRU Alumni Venture Fund (AVF) joined several prominent venture capital firms in investing in the round.
The Series A follows a $10 million seed round announced last fall and will help Aurelius expand its team and manufacturing capacity, including bringing more production of key laser and optics components in-house.
From Engineering to Entrepreneurship
Aurelius grew out of the work LaFramboise pursued after graduating from CWRU with a degree in mechanical engineering. He served in the U.S. Navy, worked in the automotive industry and then spent several years at optical materials company Coherent before beginning a PhD at Columbia University specializing in nano-optical systems.
By then, he saw an opportunity for a startup to build a smaller, less expensive alternative to existing laser systems.
“As for the existing laser systems, they’re all Ferraris,” LaFramboise told the CWRU Newsroom last fall. “We’re using parts from the automotive and industrial sectors to drive the cost down and build a Corolla.”
In 2024, he left Columbia to concentrate on building Aurelius.
The new funding will allow the company to produce its tech in greater numbers. LaFramboise recently told Tectonic Defense that Aurelius wants to “get [its product] out of testing and into customer hands.”
Along the way, his CWRU engineering education is still shaping his path.
“At Case [Western Reserve], I learned how to develop new things from scratch and have a fundamental understanding of how they work," he told the CWRU Newsroom. “I still use many of the technical skills I learned at Case [Western Reserve] today.”
CWRU now has another connection to Aurelius through the Alumni Venture Fund, which invests in startups founded by university alumni, students and faculty. Part of the CWRU Veale Institute for Entrepreneurship, the fund empowers CWRU students to evaluate prospective companies and conduct due diligence with guidance from alumni and other experienced investors.
Amos Langsner (CWR ’25), an AVF fellow and Case School of Engineering graduate, led the due-diligence process for the Aurelius investment. Langsner also interviewed LaFramboise for the CWRU Newsroom profile.
