Omnes Capital invests in Gallium Defense seed round of €7.1M to enable drone detection at scale
Coinciding with European Defense Week 2026 (2–6 November, Paris), Gallium Defense, a European company designing civil and military 3D radars, today comes out of stealth and announces a €7.1M seed round led by Keen Venture Partners and 360 Capital, with participation from Omnes Capital and Polytechnique Ventures. The funding will accelerate the development and industrialisation of its first radar, the GDS-10, ahead of orders opening in Q1 2027.
Gallium Defense was founded in Paris in April 2026 by Eric Fournier (CEO), formerly of Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Florian Lemoine (CTO), who previously worked at NATO, BCG and the DGA, and Robin Mandel (COO), formerly of Thales, BCG and Safran. From day one, the company has been built with strategic partners such as Inoveos, a specialist in radar system design & prototyping from the Microwave Valley around Brive-la-Gaillarde.
The €7.1M seed round was led by Keen Venture Partners and 360 Capital, with participation from Omnes Capital and Polytechnique Ventures. The proceeds will be used to industrialise production of the first products, strengthen the team, train AI-models and run demonstrations, for civil and military operators, around the world.
SOLVE DRONE DETECTION AT SCALE
More than 80% of critical infrastructure sites and military assets remain unprotected against modern drone threats. Not for lack of will, but for lack of affordable, field-ready radars capable of addressing the scale of this new threat.
Gallium Defense was founded to change that. Our mission: solve drone detection at scale - by making high-performance radars radically more affordable and easier to deploy, for both air security and air defense.
GDS-10: A RADAR DESIGNED FROM THE OPERATOR’S SEAT
Gallium Defense is developing the GDS-10, an X-band AESA radar with a software-defined, AI-native architecture, available in two versions: one for critical infrastructure operators, the other for armed forces.
Designed to detect Classe 1 & FPV drones at 10km, track multiple targets and integrate with existing defense systems, the GDS-10 aims to make protection against aerial threats more effective and more accessible. Its software-defined architecture also allows its capabilities to evolve as new threats emerge.
The GDS-10 provides 360° coverage in azimuth and 90° in elevation, with no blind spots, and can track multiple drones simultaneously, including within a swarm. By design it can operate day & night and in all weather. It can also be adapted to environments subject to electronic jamming.
At a fraction of the cost of leading competing systems, Gallium Defense aims to make large-scale radar networks a reality.
SPEED AS A CAPABILITY
Just four months after closing its seed round, Gallium Defense is taking the GDS-10 into open-air field trials, a pace rarely seen in the radar industry. Orders open in Q1 2027, and access to demonstrations are already available.
“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. Yes, high-performance radar detection at scale is possible! ”
“Europe cannot defend itself against what it cannot detect. Gallium Defense has the team, the industrial partners and the cost model to make drone detection a standard layer at every critical site — exactly the kind of European capability our fund is proud to back.” — Alexander Ribbink, General Partner, Keen Venture Partners.
“Drones have turned air security and air defense into a need for thousands of sites, and today’s radars were never designed for this paradigm. Eric, Florian and Robin have moved at remarkable speed since founding Gallium, and we are proud to support them in bringing the GDS-10 as quickly as possible to the operators and armed forces who need it most.” — Alexandre Mordacq, Partner, 360 Capital.
About Gallium Defense
Gallium Defense designs and manufactures deployable, scalable, field-ready and cost-effective radar systems. Founded in 2026, the company aims at democratising drone detection at scale. It develops its systems in close iteration with critical infrastructure operators and Defense forces.
More information at gallium-defense.com