Portuguese drone maker Beyond Vision has closed a €28 million Series A funding round.
The round was led by two Lisbon-based venture capital firms, Índico Capital Partners and Lince Capital. At least one of the startup’s existing shareholders, namely ActiveCap, also took part.
Beyond Vision develops dual-use drones, as well as the artificial intelligence (AI)-driven systems which make it possible to control them remotely and operate them in swarms.
This funding round will enable the firm to accelerate its growth. In particular, it will scale up its industrial capacity by doubling the size of its production facility in Alverca do Ribatejo, near Lisbon, in order to produce between 500 and 800 drones per month.
Beyond Vision also aims to further develop its beXStream cloud-based platform for remote drone control and swarm coordination technology. Recently, the company also has entered the market for naval drones.
Since its founding in 2013, Beyond Vision has emerged as one of the darlings of the Portuguese aerospace industry. Notably, the war in Ukraine, where the firm’s drones have been used, has underscored the increasing importance of all sorts of unmanned aircraft on the modern battlefield.
While the Portuguese armed forces were one of its early customers, Beyond Vision currently exports most of its production. The company also has plans to build up its presence in the United States, where its emergency response drones have gathered the interest of local companies.