Interesting Engineering · Jul 2026
Highlights Tornyol’s 380-microphone sonar system, enclosed propellers, collision avoidance, and the company’s chemical-free pest-control positioning.
Company research
Public company, workplace, funding, and market signals
Updated Jul 30, 2026
Overview
Tornyol is a Paris-area, Y Combinator-backed hard-tech startup building an autonomous 40-gram micro-drone system that uses ultrasonic sonar and control software to detect and intercept mosquitoes mid-air for home and outdoor mosquito control.
Primary product
LeSonar 2 / autonomous mosquito-killing micro-drone system with base station
Founded
2025
Headquarters
Gif-sur-Yvette, Île-de-France, France
Team size
1-10 employees
Industry
Engineering Services
Sub-industry
Autonomous drone hardware for mosquito control
Offices
Gif-sur-Yvette, Île-de-France, France
Paris, France
Business model
Direct hardware sales
Subscription
Refundable pre-order deposit
B2B/B2G pilots and sales
Funding
Stage
Seed
Total raised
$500K
Latest round
Seed · Nov 2025
Nov 2025 · Y Combinator
People & investors
Work & culture
Mission-driven hard-tech startup with a small, engineering-heavy team; public materials emphasize rapid experimentation, open technical demos, and a goal of mosquito eradication rather than generic pest control.
Compensation
No public salary bands or compensation details were found; the public careers page currently returns a 404.
Product & market
Pricing
$1,100 one-time purchase or $50/month subscription, plus a $100 refundable reservation deposit.
Differentiators
- —Autonomous mid-air mosquito interception
- —Chemical-free control
- —Selective sonar-based insect classification
- —24/7 patrol with automatic recharge
- —No installation or wiring required
- —Compact 40-gram form factor
- —Base-station guided coverage zone
- —Claims of 100x lower cost than fixed traps
Technology
Ultrasonic phased-array sonar
Micro-doppler wingbeat classification
380 TDK Invensense T3902 microphones
Artix-7 A100T FPGA
32 ultrasonic emitters
Machine learning
Digital signal processing
Autonomous flight control
Base-station charging and relaunch
Collision avoidance
Enclosed propellers
Customers
Homeowners
Early adopters
Households in mosquito-prone areas
Businesses
Government entities
NGOs
Competitors
Mosquito nets
Chemical insecticides
Fixed mosquito traps
Bug zappers
Traditional mosquito-control services
Scale & contact
Latest news
New Atlas · Jul 2026
Explains the drone’s acoustic detection system, base-station operation, charging cycle, pricing, safety features, and skepticism around real-world limits.
Tom's Hardware · Jul 2026
Describes the moth-kill demo, sonar and microphone stack, 5-acre coverage claim, $1,100 price, and the product’s current development limits.
Popular Science · Jul 2026
Covers Tornyol’s first air-to-air moth kill, the 40-gram autonomous drone design, sonar-based mosquito detection, and public pricing claims.
Particle · Jul 2026
Summarizes the first-moth interception, preorder pricing, and the company’s target U.S. launch timeline.
Jobs and careers at Tornyol
0 jobs at Tornyol
No open positions
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