Drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were once only a topic of science fiction, but today, drone technology has advanced to incredible heights. These aircraft can be piloted remotely without human pilots, passengers, or crew on board and can perform awe-inspiring aerial maneuvers and navigate through treacherous terrain where it would be very difficult for humans to enter.
Let’s explore some of the best drone startups out there today and look at how they’re transforming the unmanned vehicle industry by developing innovation-focused startups and companies that bring new technologies to the table.
Top Drone Startups to Watch
Every year, new startups pull to the forefront of their industry through exciting innovation, tech, and industry-disrupting business models. We’ve rounded up the best drone startups of 2026 that startup-lovers, investors, and aspiring entrepreneurs should follow.
Disclaimer: With so many exciting drone startups launching and growing worldwide, we aren’t able to cover them all. Furthermore, the startups that are listed below are not officially ranked and are listed in no particular order. Funding figures reflect total capital raised as of May 2026; the round shown is the most recent disclosed.
1. Anduril
- Location: Costa Mesa, California
- Founders: Brian Schimpf, Joseph Chen, Matt Grimm, Palmer Luckey, Trae Stephens
- Founded In: 2017
- Funding: Series H, $11.4 Billion
- Investors Include: Founders Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive Capital, Sands Capital
Anduril builds autonomous defense technology and AI-powered software used by the US military and allied governments. Its flagship platform, Lattice, connects drones, sensors, and ground systems to help monitor high-risk areas and gather real-time surveillance and reconnaissance data. In recent years, the company has quickly become one of the biggest names in defense tech, particularly in areas tied to autonomous systems and infrastructure security.
2. Epirus
- Location: Torrance, California
- Founders: Bo Marr, Grant L. Verstandig, Joe Lonsdale, John Tenet, Max Mednik, Nathan Mintz
- Founded In: 2018
- Funding: Series D, $550 Million+
- Investors Include: 8VC, Washington Harbour Partners, General Dynamics Land Systems
Epirus builds defense technology to counter the growing threat of weaponized drones. Its flagship system, Leonidas, uses high-power microwave beams to disable entire swarms of drones in a single burst, disrupting their electronics without kinetic damage. Its technology has been deployed across branches of the US military, including the Army, Navy, and Air Force, positioning Epirus as a leader in the emerging directed-energy defense category.
3. AirSmat
- Location: Lagos, Nigeria
- Founders: Ibikunle Adeoluwa, Osikhena (Rex) Evidence, Soji Sanyaolu
- Founded In: 2019
- Funding: Pre-Seed, $100,000
- Investors Include: Zetogon
AirSmat is taking drone technology and turning it into something good for the agriculture community. With the help of drones and satellites, AirSmat can get a better idea of where there are stressed plant areas. This data allows them to immediately offer strategic operations to improve the efficiency of the land and create better farming methods.
4. Skydweller Aero
- Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- Founders: John Parkes, Robert Miller
- Founded In: 2017
- Funding: Series A, $40 Million
- Investors Include: Marlinspike Capital, Palantir Technologies, Leonardo
Skydweller Aero doesn’t just deal with drone technology, but integrates it seamlessly into its bigger mission of connecting the world with aircraft solutions for government operations, emergency services, and communications. The company works with drone tech and solar tech to make unmanned aircraft that can continually fly with the use of solar power. The company could lead the charge for autonomous flying in the modern age.
5. MARUT Drones
- Location: Hyderabad, India
- Founders: Prem Kumar Vislawath, Sai Kumar Chinthala, Suraj Peddi
- Founded In: 2019
- Funding: Series A, $6.35 Million
- Investors Include: Lok Capital, Clay Capital
Mosquitos carry tons of diseases, and in heavily populated areas, they can be very tricky to manage. MARUT Drones understands this problem better than most and is using drones to curb the population of mosquitos in specific areas. The drones not only provide reconnaissance but can also hold 10 liters of mosquito repellant and spray up to five to six acres per hour.
6. Voliro
- Location: Zurich, Switzerland
- Founders: Mina Kamel, Timo Müller, Marius Fehr
- Founded In: 2019
- Funding: Series A, $27.7 Million
- Investors Include: BackBone Ventures, Alpana Ventures, Venture Kick
Voliro is reinventing industrial drones by letting them physically interact with structures rather than just fly past them. Its omnidirectional drones can make physical contact with surfaces, performing tasks like ultrasonic thickness testing and dry film measurements that previously required workers at dangerous heights. Because the drone can tilt and rotate in any direction, it can operate on curved, sloped, and otherwise hard-to-reach surfaces, opening up safer inspection workflows for energy, chemical, and infrastructure clients.
7. Deuce Drone
- Location: Mobile, Alabama
- Founders: Rhett Ross, Kelton Hardrict Jr., Timmy Hussain, Philip Burton, John W. Fanning
- Founded In: 2020
- Funding: Corporate Round, $884,100
- Investors Include: Drizly
Looking to make science fiction a reality, Deuce Drone is giving retailers worldwide the feature they’ve always dreamed about: same-day delivery. Retailers don’t have to be Amazon to get this kind of infrastructure. Instead, Deuce Drone provides drones that can hold packages and deliver them to customers around the area. After the package is delivered, the drone simply flies back to its drone port and waits for another package delivery.
8. Arkion (Previously Skyqraft)
- Location: Stockholm, Sweden
- Founders: David Wickström, Sakina Turabali, Umar Chughtai
- Founded In: 2019
- Funding: Series A, $10.9 Million
- Investors Include: Subvenio Invest, Neptunia Invest, Antler
On the surface, Arkion is a unique service that uses drones to collect data on power lines throughout an area. What makes Arkion really important is its contribution to a risk assessment system that is constantly being updated and improved on by the large amounts of data collected. With machine learning implemented as well, the system could improve power lines and their maintenance dramatically.
9. Skydio
- Location: San Mateo, California
- Founders: Abraham Bachrach, Adam Bry, Matt Donahoe
- Founded In: 2014
- Funding: Series F, $951 Million
- Investors Include: Andreessen Horowitz, Linse Capital, Next47, IVP
Skydio builds AI-powered drones for enterprises, public safety agencies, and government customers. The company develops autonomous drones that can pilot themselves using camera arrays and proprietary computer vision to avoid obstacles in real time and make intelligent flight decisions. Its flagship X10 drone features six navigation cameras with 360-degree visibility, autonomous flight in GPS-denied environments, and modular payloads for inspection, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions.
10. DroneUp
- Location: Virginia Beach, Virginia
- Founders: Tom Walker, John Vernon
- Founded In: 2016
- Funding: Strategic Investment, $14.2 Million
- Investors Include: Walmart
DroneUp is an innovative UAV startup working on solving last-mile delivery problems by developing drones that can provide swift, simple deliveries to customers. In addition to its last-mile delivery drone development, DroneUp also focuses on flight services and inspections, making it easy to inspect construction sites, architecture, rooftops, building facades, and more.
11. D-Fend Solutions
- Location: Ra’anana, Israel
- Founders: Assaf Monsa, Yaniv Benbenisti, Zohar Halachmi
- Founded In: 2017
- Funding: Series C, $67 Million
- Investors Include: Israel Growth Partners, Vertex Ventures, Claridge Israel
D-Fend Solutions is an Israeli startup tackling the threat of rogue drones with RF cyber-takeover technology. Its flagship system, EnforceAir, automatically detects unauthorized drones and takes control of them, guiding them to safe landings without relying on jamming or kinetic force. The technology is used by military, federal law enforcement, homeland security agencies, and major international airports across nearly 30 countries.
12. Emesent
- Location: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Founders: Farid Kendoul, Stefan Hrabar
- Founded In: 2018
- Funding: Series A, $23 Million
- Investors Include: Perennial Partners, In-Q-Tel, Main Sequence Ventures, TELUS Ventures
Emesent is a drone startup that’s developing solutions for the collection and analysis of data within GPS-denied environments that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to map. Its products are used by underground mining companies, survey and mapping organizations, infrastructure companies, as well as a variety of other industries and enterprises that require autonomous vehicles for data collection and environmental mapping. Its primary product offering is the “Emesent Hovermap,” a smart mobile scanning unit that can provide autonomous mapping capabilities in challenging and inaccessible terrain, whether underground or above ground.
13. Corvus Robotics
- Location: Mountain View, California
- Founders: Jackie Wu, Mohammed Kabir
- Founded In: 2017
- Funding: Series A, $28.1 Million
- Investors Include: S2G Ventures, Spero Ventures
Corvus Robotics builds autonomous warehouse drones that scan pallets, manage inventory, and handle other routine tasks without human pilots. Its Corvus One system is designed for 3PL (third-party logistics) operators, hospitals, manufacturers, retailers, and distributors. For warehouses managing large amounts of inventory, these drones can take over a significant portion of the work, helping companies save time and reduce labor costs.
14. Skyports
- Location: London, United Kingdom
- Founders: Duncan Walker, Simon Morrish
- Founded In: 2017
- Funding: Series C, $151 Million
- Investors Include: ACS Group (Iridium), Groupe ADP, Levitate Capital, Deutsche Bahn Digital Ventures
Skyports is a futuristic drone startup that’s designing, building, owning, and operating a variety of vertiport (vertical airport) networks that enable efficient and safe urban air transportation around the globe and in major markets. According to the Skyports team, aviation is on the verge of a complete revolution and transformation where electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft will be the future of urban air transport. They aim to be at the forefront of this industry trend and help build the infrastructure these vertical takeoff/landing vehicles need to thrive in urban settings.
15. CesiumAstro
- Location: Austin, Texas
- Founders: Shey Sabripour
- Founded In: 2017
- Funding: Series C, $626 Million
- Investors Include: Forever Ventures, Airbus Ventures, L3 Harris Technologies, Kleiner Perkins
CesiumAstro develops software-defined communications systems for space and defense applications. Its modular, mission-ready hardware powers satellites, aircraft, and unmanned systems using active phased array technology. The company works with NASA, the US Department of Defense, and commercial satellite operators, with applications spanning in-flight connectivity, military communications, and proliferated LEO satellite constellations.
16. Tevel
- Location: Tel Aviv, Israel
- Founders: Yaniv Maor
- Founded In: 2016
- Funding: Series C, $51.9 Million
- Investors Include: Hubei Forbon Technology, AgFunder, OurCrowd, Maverick Ventures Israel
Tevel is a startup that’s developing fully autonomous drones and robots for use in agriculture, orchards, and farms. Farmers have a consistent problem during harvest season – there aren’t enough hands available to pick all of their fruits on time! Tevel solves this problem and prevents good fruit from rotting in the orchard by developing flying autonomous robots that can pick from the air.
17. Globhe
- Location: Stockholm, Sweden
- Founder: Helena Samsioe
- Founded In: 2015
- Funding: Seed, $1.9 Million
- Investors Include: VEQ, Course Corrected
Globhe, short for Global Health, is revolutionizing the drone data industry with its Crowddroning® platform. As the world’s largest drone data marketplace, Globhe connects organizations with over 11,000 professional drone operators across 147 countries. Its mission is to provide on-demand drone data for better decision-making, offering services from DEMs and LiDAR to Multispectral and RGB imaging. Globhe’s platform streamlines the entire process from data request to delivery, making it easier for clients to access crucial environmental and infrastructure data anywhere on Earth.
