Estonian C-UAS Firm Frankenburg Tech Raises €30M
Estonian defense startup Frankenburg Tech has raised €30 million in a Series A funding round. The company plans to use the capital to scale up production of its counter-drone mini-missiles. The investment reflects growing demand for counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) technologies.
Frankenburg was founded in 2024 by serial entrepreneurs Taavi Madiberk and Marko Virkebau and is led by CEO Kusti Salm, the former Permanent Secretary of Estonia's Ministry of Defence. The company's goal is to address the high cost and slow production of traditional air defense systems, which are ill-suited for modern warfare characterized by swarms of inexpensive drones. The flagship product, the Mark I, is a mini-missile measuring 660mm in length and weighing under 2 kg. It is designed to intercept low-and-slow unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) like the Shahed-131 and 136 models. The missile features an electro-optic seeker with AI-powered guidance, a 0.5 kg high-explosive fragmentation warhead, and a proximity fuse. The Series A funding round was led by Plural, a European venture capital firm, with participation from SmartCap, Estonia's state-backed investment fund. This brings Frankenburg's total funding to €40 million. The capital will be used to establish two mass production facilities in the EU, with a target of producing over 100 missiles per day at each location. Frankenburg is also focused on building a sovereign European supply chain, including its own solid rocket motor production, a key bottleneck for NATO. The company has already established a presence in eight European countries, including Ukraine, where its systems are being developed with direct operational feedback. The company has secured several strategic partnerships, including a memorandum of understanding with BAE Systems to develop warheads for its missiles. They have also partnered with the UK's Babcock for maritime air defense solutions and South Korea's Hanwha for integration with a land-based counter-drone vehicle. Development of the Mark I began in late 2024, with production scheduled to start in May 2026 and first shipments in July. An air-to-air version of the missile is also under development, designed to be launched from small drones, with a prototype demonstration planned for March 2026.
