Following the launch of the EU-Japan Defence Industry Dialogue in Brussels last Friday, led by EU Commissioner for Space and Defence Andrius Kubilius, Sofia-based drone scale-up Dronamics has received an undisclosed investment by the CVC arm of Asia Air Survey, a Japanese aerial surveying and geospatial company. This partnership is aimed
David Cendon Garcia
Following the launch of the EU-Japan Defence Industry Dialogue in Brussels last Friday, led by EU Commissioner for Space and Defence Andrius Kubilius, Sofia-based drone scale-up Dronamics has received an undisclosed investment by the CVC arm of Asia Air Survey, a Japanese aerial surveying and geospatial company.
This partnership is aimed at supporting geospatial applications and will enable Dronamics to open a subsidiary in Japan; Dronamics Japan Holdings Co., Ltd. Through this, Asia Air Survey becomes the first Japanese investor in Dronamics and key strategic partner to explore the deployment of geospatial solutions with Dronamics drones in Japan and abroad.
“The strategic investment by Asia Air Survey, a leading company in aerial surveying, is a testament to the technology we have designed, built and tested repeatedly. Unmanned systems will power the new industrial age and our large, long-endurance drones are unrivalled not only in Europe but in Asia-Pacific as well.
“The Japanese market alone presents a multibillion-dollar opportunity for cargo, disaster prevention and relief and civil protection missions of Black Swan drones, and we’re excited to establish our presence here with partners like Asia Air Survey who have built incredible expertise and experience over the past 70 years of flying and delivering valuable data and actionable insights for government and private users for the advancement of society. Dronamics deeply admires Japanese commitment to technological innovation and manufacturing rigor and we look forward to evolving our partnership further, in Japan and beyond,” says Svilen Rangelov, co-founder and CEO of Dronamics.
Dronamic’s news highlights the accelerating global interest in European drone innovation, particularly for defence, logistics, and geospatial applications. This development is part of a broader trend in 2026, as evidenced by several notable funding rounds within the sector.
AirHub, a Dutch startup based in Groningen, secured €4.4 million in Series A funding to expand its mission-critical drone software, which is designed to support Europe’s security and defence operations by enabling secure and scalable drone mission execution. Meanwhile, Danish Shotling raised €700k in pre-Seed funding to advance its kinetic short-range counter-UAS systems, specifically targeting the threat posed by kamikaze drones.
Collectively, these investments reflect a concerted push toward autonomy, technological sovereignty, and industrial self-sufficiency within Europe’s drone and DefenceTech ecosystem. This aligns with the objectives of the EU-Japan Defence Industry Dialogue and underscores the region’s growing role in shaping the future of advanced, sovereign drone technologies.
“We would like to express our sincere appreciation to the management team and all stakeholders of Dronamics for providing us with the opportunity to invest in the company. Asia Air Survey, headquartered in Japan, delivers geospatial information services focused on resilience and urban design, and has an established track record of project execution in more than 30 countries worldwide,” adds Shingo Urakawa, Board member of Asia Air Survey.
Founded in 2014, Dronamics is an aerospace company that designs, builds and operates unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for logistics, civil protection and defence. While Dronamics is based in Bulgaria, Dronamics Group is based in Ireland.
Its multi-role drone, the Black Swan, is engineered for low-cost, long-range autonomous missions to deliver, detect and defend. Payload-agnostic, the full-sized Black Swan has a cargo capacity of 350 kg and range of 2,500km, allegedly making it Europe’s most versatile drone of its size.
The Black Swan was built to enable logistics, special missions and serves national safety and security purposes.
“We recognise Dronamics as one of the world’s most advanced startups, planning the first certified unmanned cargo aircraft service globally. By combining the technologies and expertise of our two companies, we believe there is significant potential for the development of new services. We look forward to future business collaboration and joint growth between our organizations,” adds Shingo.
By incorporating Dronamics’ UAS, Asia Air Survey is exploring reducing cost, risk, and efficiency challenges within their own geospatial offerings – including disaster prevention and management, environmental consulting, forestry, fixed assets valuation, city planning and environmental impact assessment.
As per the EU-Japan Defence Industry Dialogue, a shared priority for the EU and Japan is strengthening the defence industrial base, with the Japanese government already signalling budget readiness to support drone procurement.
Dronamics believes they are well positioned to advance both objectives with its Black Swan being the only MALE (mid-altitude long-endurance) drones made in Europe.
