This Paris Startup Just Raised $7.7M to Make Drone Detection Affordable

Jan de Vries · 2026-11-02

Imagine a radar system that costs a fraction of what legacy systems do, yet can spot drones up to 6 miles away. That's exactly what Paris-based Gallium Defense is building, and they've just emerged from stealth with a $7.7 million Seed round to make it happen. The funding was led by Keen Venture Partners and 360 Capital, with participation from Omnes Capital and Polytechnique Ventures. The announcement coincided with European Defence Week 2026, held from November 2nd to 6th in Paris. ### Why Drone Detection Needs a Rethink More than 80% of critical infrastructure sites and military assets remain exposed to modern drone threats. Why? Because affordable, field-ready radars that can handle the threat at scale simply don't exist. Gallium Defense was founded to close that gap. "Great defence starts with superior visibility," said Alexander Ribbink, General Partner at Keen Venture Partners. "Gallium Defense 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." ### The Team Behind the Tech Gallium Defense was founded in April 2026 by Eric Fournier, Florian Lemoine, and Robin Mandel – three individuals with deep defence and industrial backgrounds. Fournier spent 17 years advising defence and aerospace leaders at Boston Consulting Group. Lemoine brings over 15 years of defence experience and served as a former adviser to NATO SACT. Mandel also has over 15 years' experience across industry and consulting, with roles at Thales, BCG, and Safran. ### The GDS-10: Affordable, Adaptable, and AI-Native Gallium's flagship product is the GDS-10, an X-band AESA radar with a software-defined, AI-native architecture. It's designed for dual use and comes in two versions: one for critical infrastructure operators and one for armed forces. Here's what it can do: - Detect Class 1 and FPV drones at a range of 6.2 miles (10 km) - Provide 360° azimuth coverage and 90° elevation coverage with no blind spots - Track multiple drones simultaneously, including swarms, day and night, in all weather conditions - Evolve its capabilities via software updates 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. ### From Funding to Field Trials Just four months after closing its Seed round, Gallium conducted its first open-air field trials. The funding is being used to industrialize production, strengthen the team, train AI models, and run demonstrations for civil and military operators worldwide. With monthly field demonstrations underway, Gallium Defense is positioning 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. > "As drones proliferate, traditional radars are reaching their operational and economic limits. At Gallium Defense, 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." – Eric Fournier, CEO and co-founder For anyone watching the European startup scene, Gallium Defense is a name to remember. They're not just building another radar; they're rethinking the economics of defence technology.