AirHub raises €4.4 million Series A to scale drone operations software for European defence and security

Dutch drone operations software company AirHub has secured €4.4 million in Series A funding led by Keen Venture Partners, with participation from Runway FBU (backed by Norway’s Aker Group) and existing investors Lumaux and LUMO Labs. The investment will fund the development of two new specialised product lines targeting European defence and security operations.

Founded in 2016 by co-CEOs Thomas Brinkman and Stephan van Vuren, AirHub spent its first eight years bootstrapping before closing a €1 million seed round from LUMO Labs and Lumaux in April 2024. The Valkenburg-based company has built the AirHub Drone Operations Centre, a comprehensive platform that enables organisations to plan drone missions, operate aircraft during live incidents, monitor real-time video feeds for command oversight, and manage compliance workflows and reporting — all from a single interface.

From police forces to critical infrastructure

AirHub’s client roster reads like a who’s who of European security and infrastructure operators. The platform currently serves nine enterprise and government clients, including Dubai Police, the Belgian Federal Police, Portuguese Bombeiros, Dutch Customs, ProRail, Securitas, Shell, Boskalis, and Prosegur. Portugal’s national civil protection authority uses AirHub to coordinate more than 700 drone pilots nationwide.

The platform covers the complete mission lifecycle: pre-flight planning with automated airspace checks, weather integration, and risk assessment; in-flight operations with live streaming and AI-powered image recognition; and post-flight compliance reporting and fleet management. AirHub also holds ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 certifications and offers on-premise deployment options — a critical requirement for government and defence clients managing sensitive data.

Two new products for defence and security

The Series A capital will support AirHub’s expansion into two dedicated verticals. MilHub is a new product tailored specifically for defence operations, while SecHub addresses broader security use cases, including counter-drone capabilities — a segment attracting growing investment across Europe. Both products build on the core Drone Operations Centre technology that has been validated by AirHub’s existing client base.

“As Europe increases its focus on resilience, security and technological autonomy, AirHub is well-positioned to become an important software player,” said Giuseppe Lacerenza, Partner at Keen Venture Partners. The Amsterdam-based VC firm recently raised a dedicated €150 million DefenceTech fund, underscoring the growing investor appetite for European-built defence technology solutions.

European sovereignty meets operational demand

AirHub’s positioning taps into a broader trend across European security and defence: the push for technological sovereignty. With EU-based cloud infrastructure, data sovereignty guarantees, and secure deployment modes, the company offers an alternative to non-European drone software providers at a time when governments are increasingly scrutinising their technology supply chains.

“There is a clear and growing need for trusted, European-built solutions, and AirHub is well-positioned to meet that demand,” said Andy Lürling, founding partner at LUMO Labs. The drone-as-first-responder model, in which drones are dispatched ahead of human teams to assess emergencies, is gaining traction across European police and fire services — and AirHub’s platform is designed to support precisely these mission-critical, real-time operations.

The European defence technology sector attracted €2.3 billion in funding last year alone, double the equivalent figure from 2024, with drone operations and counter-drone systems emerging as key investment themes. AirHub’s Series A positions the company to capture a share of this expanding market as it scales its international team and platform capabilities.