AirHub raises €4.4M to build Europe's drone operations software for security and defence
What's the deal? AirHub, a Dutch drone operations software company headquartered in The Hague, has closed a €4.4 million Series A round backed by Keen Venture PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, RunwayFBUDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, LumauxDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and LUMO LabsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The funding will be used to scale the team, strengthen its core Drone Operations Center platform, and expand into two new product lines: MilHub, for defence environments, and SecHub, for broader security operations including counter-drone capabilities.
AirHub's software is already in use by organisations including Dubai Police, the Belgian Federal Police, Securitas, Dutch Customs, Shell, and ProRail.
Why now? Drones are rapidly moving from specialist tools to operational backbone infrastructure across security, defence, and critical infrastructure. The demand for software that can plan, execute, and manage missions at scale — with full data sovereignty — is accelerating in Europe, where governments and organisations are under growing pressure to rely on trusted, domestically built technology rather than non-European alternatives.
The investor line-up reflects that strategic context. Keen Venture Partners brings experience in European defence and dual-use technology; RunwayFBU, backed by the Aker Group, brings networks in critical infrastructure and industrial robotics.
What could go wrong? At €4.4 million, this is a modest raise for a company with global ambitions across defence, security, and critical infrastructure. Scaling simultaneously into military-grade software with MilHub and counter-drone capabilities with SecHub, while serving commercial infrastructure clients, is an ambitious product agenda for a relatively small team. Each vertical carries its own regulatory, certification, and sales cycle complexity.
Defence and government procurement is also notoriously slow. AirHub's existing customer base is impressive, but converting that traction into large, recurring contracts at scale takes time and sustained relationship-building.
The signal: AirHub's raise reflects the growing recognition that drone hardware is only part of the equation — the software layer that orchestrates missions, manages compliance, and ensures data sovereignty is where long-term value accumulates. As European governments accelerate drone deployment across emergency services, border control, and infrastructure security, the demand for trusted, European-built operational software is becoming a procurement requirement, not just a preference. AirHub is positioning itself as that layer.
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