Ground A raises €9M+ to bring laser-based counter-drone technology to market

German defencetech startup Ground A has stepped out of stealth with a pre-seed round of more than €9 million, raised in June just six months after the company was founded. That is a quick sprint by any standard, especially in defence, where product cycles usually move at a glacial pace while the threat keeps moving.

The company’s first system is the GA 1000, a compact counter-drone setup that blends radar, sensors, computer vision, proprietary AI and laser effects. It is built to detect, classify and track small, agile drones automatically. A human operator still makes the call on whether to fire the effector, which is a sensible line between automation and control.

Ground A says the system weighs less than 200 kilograms and has a Euro-pallet footprint, so it is meant to be mobile and easy to move around. It is also not being treated as a one-off box. The GA 1000 is designed to slot into existing air defence and command-and-control systems, and to work on land-, sea- and air-based platforms.

Vsquared Ventures led the round. Quantum Systems joined in, along with GRIF, Robin Capital, ABACON, Leblon Capital and OVNI Capital. The cap table also includes a cluster of familiar names from European defence and software circles, among them Florian Seibel, Sven Kruck, J14 Capital, Andreas Nauerz, Marlon Braumann and Arx Robotics Managing Director Stefan Roebel.

CEO and co-founder Dr Tobias Brune says the system is already in testing and validation and is close to market launch. Ground A is setting up modular series production in Germany, with a bigger capacity push planned for the next financing round in 2027. The pitch is clear: build something that works, industrialise it fast, and get a lot of it into the field.