FlyFocus raises €4.5M to scale drone production as Europe pushes for tech sovereignty

Polish defense startup builds UAVs using NATO-aligned supply chains and secures first institutional funding

Europe’s race for secure defense supply chains is picking up speed. A growing number of governments are looking for alternatives to foreign drone components, and a Polish startup now has fresh capital to meet that demand.

FlyFocus, a Warsaw-based defense technology startup focused on unmanned aerial systems and avionics, has raised €4.5 million in its first institutional funding round. The investment was led by ffVC with participation from the NCBR Investment Fund, the venture arm of Poland’s National Centre for Research and Development.

The raise marks a turning point for the eight-year-old company, which has grown without outside capital until now. Over that period, FlyFocus moved from early R&D into full production, secured direct military contracts, and built a reputation as one of Poland’s more established UAV suppliers.

With €4.5M in funding, Polish defense startup FlyFocus aim to build NATO-aligned and Europe-controlled drone supply chain

The new funding will support the construction of a dedicated manufacturing facility in Poland, expected to come online in the second half of 2026. The company plans to use the capital to increase international sales and introduce two new UAV platforms later this year.

FlyFocus is betting on a clear thesis: Europe needs drone systems built on supply chains it can fully trust. Recent research from the Royal United Services Institute and the Center for Strategic and International Studies has highlighted how deeply Chinese firms are embedded across the global drone ecosystem, from batteries to flight controllers. That dependence has raised alarms across European defense circles.

From day one, FlyFocus adopted a strict policy of sourcing components exclusively from NATO-aligned suppliers. The company says this approach gives military buyers full visibility into the supply chain and aligns with tightening procurement requirements across Europe.

Igor Skawiński, CEO and co-founder of FlyFocus, framed the strategy bluntly: “Without secure and transparent defence supply chains, there is no real military security. Europe needs industrial capabilities it can rely on in the long term. This investment allows us to scale production in Poland and deliver systems that are designed, built, and supported within Europe, while remaining flexible enough to adapt to rapidly evolving operational requirements.”

The company already works directly with the Polish Armed Forces and lists both the Polish and Ukrainian Ministries of Defence as customers. Its platforms have seen real-world deployment in Ukraine, where FlyFocus teams have worked closely with military units to refine performance based on field feedback.

Investors appear to be backing that operational track record. Mariusz Adamski, Partner at ff Venture Capital, said: “FlyFocus is not a prototype story—it is a production-ready defence and dual-use technology platform. We believe this is exactly the kind of European industrial capability needed today: operationally proven, scalable, and strategically aligned with the long-term needs of EU ministries of defence, while offering significant global commercial potential beyond defence.”

Paweł Materniak, Investment Director at NCBR Investment Fund, added: “Strengthening Poland’s and Europe’s defence technology base is a strategic priority. FlyFocus demonstrates that advanced defence systems can be developed and manufactured domestically, with full control over critical technologies. This investment supports the growth of high-value industrial capabilities in Poland while contributing to Europe’s long-term security.”

Founded in 2017 by engineers with aerospace and competitive aeromodelling backgrounds, FlyFocus now employs 35 people. The team builds complete UAV platforms, avionics, and ground control software fully in-house, maintaining ownership of its flight control and mission planning stack.

Its product lineup spans ISR platforms, loitering and strike systems, and counter-drone technologies, all of which the company says are production-ready and field-tested. Polaris, one of its flagship systems, is a 4.5 kg, backpack-portable, fixed-wing ISR UAV that can operate for up to 4.5 hours and is designed for single-operator deployment. At the higher end, Striker is a long-range loitering platform with an effective range exceeding 1,000 kilometres and a payload capacity of up to 40 kg, built for deep-strike missions in contested electronic warfare environments.

FlyFocus has developed CableGuard, a patented tethered UAV system for persistent aerial surveillance, already in use by government and institutional customers. Across its portfolio, the company points to its modular hardware architecture and in-house software stack as key levers for pushing frequent upgrades, including updates delivered to systems operating in active conflict zones.

With fresh capital secured and a new factory on the roadmap, FlyFocus is moving into its next phase at a moment when European governments are placing new weight on sovereign defense manufacturing. The company is positioning itself squarely within that shift, betting that demand for NATO-aligned drone systems will continue to rise.

Courtesy: FlyFocus