Paris-based Gallium Defence emerges from stealth with €7.1 million to scale affordable drone detection

Gallium Defence, a Paris-based startup working on drone detection at a fraction of the cost of legacy systems, has emerged from stealth with a €7.1 million Seed funding round.

The round was led by Keen Venture Partners and 360 Capital, with participation from Omnes Capital and Polytechnique Ventures. This announcement coincided with European Defence Week 2026, held from 2nd to 6th November in Paris. 

“Great defence starts with superior visibility. Gallium Defence has the team, the industrial partners and the cost model to make drone detection a standard layer at every critical site – the kind of European capability our fund is proud to back,” said Alexander Ribbink, General Partner, Keen Venture Partners.

Gallium Defence was founded in April 2026 by Eric Fournier, Florian Lemoine, and Robin Mandel, three individuals with defence and industrial backgrounds. Fournier spent 17 years advising defence and aerospace leaders at Boston Consulting Group, while Lemoine has over 15 years’ experience in defence and served as a former adviser to NATO SACT. Mandel also brings over 15 years’ experience across industry and consulting through roles at Thales, BCG and Safran.

The company says more than 80% of critical infrastructure sites and military assets remain exposed to modern drone threats because of lack of affordable, field-ready radars capable of addressing the threat at scale. Gallium Defence was formed to address this gap by making high-performance radars affordable and easier to deploy, for both air security and air defence.

“As drones proliferate, traditional radars are reaching their operational and economic limits. At Gallium Defence, we started from a blank sheet with a simple question, asked by operators in the field: how do you meet 80% of the need at 20% of the price? Our answer: a radically rethought AESA radar architecture that makes extensive use of commercial off-the-shelf components and the power of embedded computing,” said Fournier, CEO and co-founder of Gallium Defence.

Gallium’s flagship product is called the GDS-10, an X-band AESA radar with a software-defined, AI-native architecture. It is designed for dual use and comes in two versions: one for critical infrastructure operators and one for armed forces.

The GDS-10 is capable of detecting Class 1 and FPV drones at a range of 10km. It provides 360° azimuth coverage and 90° elevation coverage with no blind spots, and can track multiple drones simultaneously, including within a swarm, day and night, in all weather conditions. Since GDS-10 is software-defined by design, its capabilities can evolve as new threats emerge.

“Our radars are designed to be manufactured and deployed by the hundreds, not one at a time,” said Mandel, COO and co-founder of Gallium Defence.

Just four months after closing its Seed round, the company conducted its first open-air field trials. The funding is being used to industrialise production of its first products, strengthen the team, train AI models, and run demonstrations for civil and military operators around the world. 

With the Seed funding raised and monthly field demonstrations underway, Gallium Defence is pitching itself as the sovereign European answer for drone detection at scale. The company plans to open orders for the GDS-10 in the first quarter of 2027.

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