Well, the European drone dudes certainly aren’t messing around at the Munich Security Conference.
Yesterday, German drone giant Quantum Systems (QS) announced that it’s secured €150M ($178M) in financing backed by the European Investment Bank (EIB), Commerzbank, KfW, and Deutsche Bank.
The company says the money will be used to “support the company’s continued growth and industrial scaling in Europe.”
“This financing is a strong vote of confidence in our company, technology, and our vision,” QS CFO Jonas Jarosch said in a statement. “It enables us to scale responsibly while remaining firmly anchored in Europe. Security and technological sovereignty start with the ability to invest long-term in critical capabilities.”
Looks like the banks are finally starting to come around.
Big bucks: QS is a regular around here (as is its semi-stepbrother strike drone company STARK), so we won’t bore you too much with the details, but here’s the high level:
- The company was founded by a team led by Florian Seibel back in 2015 and set out—initially—to build drones that could “redefine how aerial data is collected, analysed, and turned into action.” (Read: ISR.)
- The company is now led by Seibel and co-CEO Sven Kruck, who joined the team in 2022.
- Last year, the company raised a €160M ($186M) Series C and a €180M ($209M) Series C extension, both led by Balderton Capital. In total, QS has raised $562M in funding and is valued at $3.5B, according to Pitchbook data.
They make a few different fun flying products, including:
- Vector: A mid-range ISR eVTOL drone
- Trinity: A fixed-wing drone for mapping
- Twister: A short-range ISR drone
- Reliant: A long-range ISR drone
But Seibel and his team aren’t just doing the airborne stuff—last December, the company snapped up ground autonomy company FERNRIDE, and has signaled that the ultimate goal is to build an all-domain family of systems.
Supersize me: And the company is growing lightning-quick.
In 2025 alone, Quantum Systems:
- Expanded operations in the UK and says they will be making a €50M investment in the country in the next five years.
- Bought up Germany’s AirRobot, a supplier of copter drones for the Bundeswehr, Nordic Unmanned UK, the British arm of a Norwegian drone company, and SpleenLab, a German company that builds “AI software for autonomous systems.”
- Inked partnerships with companies including Skyports, Planet, and Ukrainian firm Frontline.
- Launched a “multi-domain command and control platform” for drones called MOSAIC UXS.
- Opened a 135,000-square-foot US production and integration facility in California.
In December, the company also announced a contract with the German Armed Forces to supply up to 747 reconnaissance drones for the Bundeswehr’s ALADIN system.
Doubling down: And now, it seems that even the European big dogs are taking drones seriously—the EIB alone contributed €70M to this round.
“Drones and aerial intelligence are already indispensable for Europe’s security – from defending Ukraine to protecting critical infrastructure and borders,” Nadia Calviño, President of the European Investment Bank, said in a statement. “With this…financing, the EIB is backing a European technology champion in Germany and showing how public and private finance can scale up Europe’s defence capabilities and better protect our citizens.”
Big week for European sovereignty, huh? Let’s see what Rubio has to say about that tomorrow.