Giving our troops the most advanced autonomy in the world. CEO/Co-founder of @RowndAI x-IBM, x-Google, Air Force vet.
Colgate, Wisconsin
Joined April 2009
- Tweets1.1K
- Following2.6K
- Followers998
- Likes691
Rob Thelen retweeted
What our phone sees vs. what our drone sees!
More views from our Wisconsin grand opening event this week.
🤖 Made with AI
The future of warfare is in our hands. Grateful to be able to provide the best weapons to our nation's heroes.
“We are going to give our 🪖 #military the best weapons in the world,” CEO and @RowndAI co-founder @rgthelen said during a press conference. “We have a vision 👀 of building and making #Wisconsin a #drone and autonomy center of excellence.”
wisbusiness.com/2026/rownd-s…
Excited to bring the autonomous revolution to Wisconsin.
gmtoday.com/daily_news/news/…
What a day in Hartford! Loved talking with the Wisconsin community at our grand opening about Rownd's drones, our technology and where we're headed. A big shoutout to our team for putting the whole event together. Super proud of them. Excited for our future in Wisconsin!
🤖 Made with AI
Rob Thelen retweeted
Scenes from our grand opening celebration at Hartford Municipal Airport this morning.
A big thank you to @RepFitzgerald and the many local elected officials, business leaders, airport officials, and everyone who joined us to celebrate Rownd's expansion in Wisconsin.
We're thrilled to put roots down in Richfield and build lasting relationships in the community.
🤖 Made with AI
We've been perfecting voice command with our drones over the past few weeks. Here's a look at the technology in action.
Thanks for having me on the pod! Go check it out!
🎙 “A warfighter might need to understand something #downrange, and they can put one of our #Rownd systems in the air and it will autonomously report back without any user inputs,” Rob Thelen said, launching its #AI #drone + a $10M @DeptofWar contract.
wisbusiness.com/2026/wisbusi…
Always tinkering with the software as we ramp up for our Wisconsin grand opening next week. We'll be back in the field today!
Super proud of our team once again. Come check us out next Tuesday!
Our team is working hard to make this event really come to life. Come check us out!
Rownd is expanding in Wisconsin.
Join us at 10 AM at Hartford Municipal Airport on Tuesday, October 27, to celebrate the grand opening of our new drone R&D center in Richfield, Wisconsin.
See Rownd's drones in action with live demonstrations. The expansion is expected to create 10 manufacturing jobs in Wisconsin.
RSVP by emailing [email protected]
Today, we're launching @RowndAI.
You may have seen some sneak peeks into what we're doing, but it's exciting to remove the curtain and show off the future.
Autonomous drones built for scale and rapid replenishment, delivered directly to the warfighter's hands.
America needs a new type of weapons system. We're building it.
Rob Thelen retweeted
This is the future of warfare.
Today, Rownd is officially launching its autonomous drones out of stealth.
We build economical, attritable drones to defend the United States against foreign threats.
We've secured a $10 million contract with the @DeptofWar, as well as contracts with @AFSpecOpsCmd, @USSOCOM, and @usairforce BESPIN to out-iterate our enemies.
Loved seeing our drones in the hands of @usairforce BESPIN personnel. So proud of our team for making it all possible.
Another great day of flights in the books.
On Wednesday, the Rownd team successfully completed 7 flights at Maxwell Air Force Base.
This was also the first time that members of the @usairforce BESPIN team got to fly our drones.
Rob Thelen retweeted
Under Secretary of War Jules Hurst appreciated the opportunity to join @ycombinator's Startup Industrial Base: Building for the next 250.
He highlighted how greater budget transparency and timely execution data can help the @DeptofWar, Congress, and industry better align resources with priorities, thus moving proven capabilities to the warfighter faster.
He also advised innovators to solve real problems, understand the acquisition path, and demonstrate to the Department they can deliver at scale.
"Having the users like your products is incredibly necessary," Hon. Hurst said. "But it's the program offices and the [portfolio acquisition executives, or] PAEs who really have the power to make you successful. You have to provide the solution to them.
"Again, they’ve made their budget. They made it a year and a half ago. They've made a plan to execute that budget. So anything you're bringing in is, at times, disruptive to them if they have an established program. So you've got to figure out how you can fit in.”
