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

What happened

Paris-based Gallium Defense emerges from stealth with €7.1 million to scale affordable drone detection, according to EU-Startups. 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.

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 Defense was formed to address this gap by making high-performance radars affordable and easier to deploy, for both air security and air defence.