Drone startups

Paris defense-AI startup (founded 2024); vertically-integrated autonomous systems — AI ISR and strike UAVs, drone-interception and electronic-warfare platforms. Delivered to the French Army and contracted for 3,000 systems by the UK MoD. Raised a $200M Series B led by Dassault Aviation (Jan 2026) at a $1.4B valuation — France's first defense unicorn.

All-domain AI-defense company; the HX-2 long-range AI strike drone is one product line. Raised €600M Series D, June 2025, led by Prima Materia, valuing the company at €12B (helsing.ai newsroom).

Huntington Beach (CA) defense-tech startup (founded 2023); unmanned weapons systems — the Viper jet-VTOL one-way attack drone, the Stratos high-altitude surveillance UAV, and the Dart counter-drone interceptor. Raised a $300M Series C at a $1.8B valuation (2026; led by Infinite Capital and Ribbit Capital).

El Segundo (CA) FPV-drone maker (founded 2023); the Archer 8-inch attack quadcopter and Flatbow ground control — selected by the US Army as a primary FPV supplier (PBAS), building ~1,500/month with two-thirds going to Ukraine. Raised a $35M Series A (2025; Vy Capital, Sequoia).

Stockholm counter-drone startup (emerged from stealth in 2024); the Kreuger 100 low-cost interceptor that uses software-defined flight control and pulsed propulsion to neutralize drones at ~10x lower cost. $4.4M raised; co-developing the VIPRO mobile C-UAS with Volvo Defense.

Riga counter-drone startup; BLAZE man-portable drone interceptor (counter-UAS, its flagship) and BEAK drone-launched precision-strike system; EU Defence Fund-backed, Latvian MoD counter-drone R&D contract (Janes / DroneLife, 2025).

Ukrainian combat-drone maker (founded 2022; grew from four engineers in a garage to several thousand staff); the Vampire ("Baba Yaga") heavy night-bomber multirotor — Ukraine's most-used bomber drone — plus the Shrike FPV family and the P1-SUN interceptor for downing Shahed-type drones.

Berlin/Munich loitering-munition startup; the OWE-V Virtus VTOL one-way effector is under contract for the Bundeswehr. Raised $62M, Aug 2025, Sequoia-led (Tech.eu, 2025).

Ukrainian FPV-drone maker (TAF Industries; founded 2023 out of a 2022 volunteer charity initiative led by Oleksandr Yakovenko); one of Ukraine's largest-scale FPV producers — the Kolibri FPV loitering munition built at tens of thousands per month, alongside reconnaissance UAVs and EW systems.

Munich drone-maker (incorporated late 2024); cost-efficient, mass-manufacturable 10-inch quadcopters already fielded daily by European forces. Raised $11.8M (2025; Lakestar / OTB / 468 Capital) to scale modular production to thousands per month.

Munich counter-UAS startup (founded 2023, spun out of TU Munich); AI-guided interceptor drones with ground stations and software to defeat reconnaissance and strike UAVs. Won a multi-hundred-million-euro German interceptor-drone contract; raised €46M, incl. a €30M Series A (2026) co-led by the NATO Innovation Fund.

Vilnius unmanned-systems startup (founded 2022); a full-stack of UAVs — the Partisan reconnaissance drone, loitering munitions, and FPV drones with AI swarm/C2. €3.2M Series A (2024; Coinvest Capital); supplies the Lithuanian and Ukrainian armed forces.

Ukrainian FPV-drone maker (emerged 2022, among the first startups after the full-scale invasion); a top-three Ukrainian FPV producer (Molfar, MAX 15) building thousands per month — including the first FPV made entirely from Ukrainian components. Adding AI terminal guidance with The Fourth Law.

Ukrainian non-profit combat-drone maker — a crowdfunded charitable foundation (founded spring 2023) that takes no investment; the STING fast FPV interceptor that downs Shahed-type loitering munitions at ~$2,100 a unit (60–90% hit rate, 1,000+ Shaheds destroyed), alongside FPV strike drones built by a small engineering team.