Lisbon drone maker Beyond Vision raises over €28 million

By Daniel Okafor

Lisbon-based drone manufacturer Beyond Vision has closed an investment round of over €28 million to scale production of its AI-powered unmanned aerial vehicles for civilian and defence buyers.

Índico Capital Partners and Lince Capital co-led the round. ActiveCap, a shareholder since 2024, followed on. The company announced the deal today.

What will the money fund?

Three things, according to the company. Beyond Vision will expand its industrial production capacity, accelerate development of its AI and drone-swarm technology, and push deeper into international defence and critical infrastructure markets.

CEO Dário Pedro set out the plan in detail. He said: "The capital raised in this round will be applied in several areas. First, Beyond Vision will strengthen its operational infrastructure and scale its industrial production capacity to meet the growing global demand for autonomous systems. In parallel, the company will accelerate investment in Research and Development (R&D), deepening the integration of advanced Artificial Intelligence algorithms and new functionalities in our cloud management platform."

He added that the funds will also "consolidate its commercial expansion into new international markets, strengthening its presence in the defence, security, and critical infrastructure monitoring sector."

Why did investors write the cheque?

Stephan de Moraes, Managing General Partner of Índico Capital Partners, framed the deal against surging government demand for sovereign defence technology.

"In critical sectors such as defence, infrastructure management, and security, the reliance on cutting-edge, reliable, and sovereign technology is now a strategic priority for many countries," de Moraes said. "Beyond Vision has redefined this market by combining high-precision hardware with advanced artificial intelligence algorithms at a very competitive cost. This investment will give Beyond Vision the financial robustness needed to scale production and compete globally in important segments of autonomous unmanned vehicles."

Who is Beyond Vision?

The company was founded in 2013. Dário Pedro serves as CEO and Luís Miguel Campos as Chairman. It builds dual-use UAV technology paired with AI algorithms, and says it spotted the autonomous vehicle opportunity early, developing drones run by AI and cloud-based management platforms before the current wave of demand.

Its drones became an officially registered NATO supplier product line and won numerous awards, the company says. The aircraft carry multiple parallel communication systems plus AI, tuned for both civil and military applications. Its cloud platform for remote drone control, beXStream, uses AI and automation to manage operations at distance — the equivalent of an air-traffic console that a single operator can run from a laptop.

How strong is the order book?

The company reports concrete traction:

• A team that has grown to 150 employees
• 2025 revenue above its own estimates
• A growing list of military and civilian clients across several countries
• A July partnership with AVP (Aero Voo de Portugal) to represent it commercially in Jordan

The bigger prizes sit in the United States. In 2025, Beyond Vision signed a €15 million contract to supply 300 emergency drones in the US by 2028. It also plans to open a US factory in 2027, backed by a €50 million investment.

What happens next?

The company says the new capital prepares it for global scalability as demand for its civilian and defence solutions grows exponentially. With a US plant, a NATO supplier status and production funding in place, Beyond Vision now has to convert Portuguese engineering into transatlantic manufacturing volume.