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DISPATCH 03/26 · 16 Aug 2026
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Company Dossier

Hidden Level

Syracuse passive-RF firm whose no-emission AMS sensor network tracks drones and their operators for DoD and federal customers; ~$121M raised through a 2025 Series C.

FILE · hidden-levelOpen-source file · BattlePolicy ProStatus Private (venture-backed)Unverified
Hidden Level
Counter-UASCombat-fieldedUSPrivate (venture-backed)
Syracuse passive-RF firm whose no-emission AMS sensor network tracks drones and their operators for DoD and federal customers; ~$121M raised through a 2025 Series C.
Founded
2018
HQ
Syracuse, New York, USA
Headcount
~100reported mid-2025
Total raised
~$121M disclosedseed through Series C
Valuation
Not disclosedCEO indicated >$500M post-Series C, Feb 2025
Stage
Series C

Background

Jeff Cole and Gary Dominicos founded Hidden Level in Syracuse, New York, in July 2018. Both came out of SRC Inc.: Cole was director of programs at Gryphon Sensors, SRC's drone-detection spinoff, and Dominicos was Gryphon's controller; he now serves as CFO. The Airspace Monitoring Service (AMS) inverts the usual counter-drone architecture. Instead of radiating like a radar, its sensors — mounted on cell towers, rooftops and building sides — listen passively for the command and video links drones emit, then triangulate both aircraft and operator; the company cites roughly ten sensors covering 170 square miles.

Because nothing transmits, deployment needs no FCC spectrum coordination, leaves no RF footprint an adversary can detect, and sidesteps the legal exposure of active interception under US surveillance law. A passive-radar mode exploiting third-party broadcast signals extends detection toward RF-silent targets. Hidden Level retains ownership of all hardware and sells AMS as a subscription — airspace data as a service rather than boxes.

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