Ukraine-connected · YC Spring 2026
9 Mothers
9 Mothers is an Austin counter-drone startup with $1.6 million in reported sales and U.S. defense delivery experience. Co-founder Roman Khomenko has documented roots in Ukraine.
- Accelerator
- YC Spring 2026
- Stage
- Pre-seed · YC ↗
- Hiring
- Hiring ↗
- Founded
- 2024
- Location
- Austin, Texas
- Focus
- Defense · Counter-UAS
- Status
- Active
Why it’s hot
$1.6M in reported sales and delivery work for the U.S. Department of War before completing YC’s Spring 2026 batch.
Hiring signal
Current Austin roles span perception, robotics, hardware, and embedded systems.
View jobs signal ↗Ukrainian connection
Co-founder Roman Khomenko has documented education and work roots in Ukraine and lists Ukrainian as a native language. The company says its counter-drone mission was motivated by the Russia–Ukraine war.
Founder
Roman Khomenko
Co-founder · Studied in Kharkiv, worked in Ukraine, and lists Ukrainian as a native language.
LinkedIn profile ↗Sources
We use public primary sources where possible and identify exactly what each source supports.
- 9 Mothers company profile ↗Y Combinator · Supports: company, batch, sales, location, product, founder.
- Roman Khomenko profile ↗LinkedIn · Supports: Ukraine connection, education, language.
Last reviewed: August 7, 2026. Read the methodology.