The UK drone sector spans defence, infrastructure inspection, logistics, autonomy, and data. Using Beauhurst data, we’ve ranked 100 UK-headquartered drone companies by the total equity funding they have raised.
Together, the companies in our wider analysis have raised £830m across 293 equity rounds. That makes drones the smallest sector by total funding in our Top 100 series, despite rapid growth in the number of companies operating in the space.
This is not a ranking of the UK’s largest aerospace businesses by revenue or headcount. Instead, it shows which companies building, operating, or supporting uncrewed systems have attracted the most equity investment.
The UK drone sector
A drone is an uncrewed vehicle. Most are aerial, but the category also includes marine and underwater systems.
The UK companies in our analysis do much more than build aircraft. They develop autonomy software, sensors, counter-drone technology, ground infrastructure, and services that turn flight data into useful information.
Broadly, they fall into three areas:
- Defence and counter-drone: Companies building military uncrewed systems, or technology used to detect and stop them.
- Inspection, survey and data: Businesses using drones to inspect infrastructure, construction sites, farmland, and other assets, often selling the resulting data and analysis.
- Logistics, infrastructure and autonomy: Companies moving goods, building landing and charging infrastructure, or developing navigation software for uncrewed flight.
There are 106 companies in the wider cohort today, compared with 29 at the end of 2015. That is an increase of 266% over the decade.
The sector is still weighted towards earlier-stage businesses. Of the 106 companies, 39 are at seed stage and 38 at venture stage, compared with 16 at growth stage and nine established. Of the 293 equity rounds recorded, 146 were completed at seed stage and 104 at venture stage.
Drone funding in the UK
The companies in our analysis have raised £830m across 293 equity rounds.
Chemring leads the ranking with £178m in equity funding. It is a FTSE 250 defence group rather than a specialist drone startup, and appears in the cohort through its countermeasures and sensor businesses.
AALTO follows with £79.2m, ahead of Flock (£72.8m), Gama Aviation (£48.0m), and UFORCE (£37.4m).
Funding is concentrated among a relatively small number of companies. Chemring accounts for 21% of the total, while the top five account for 50% and the top 10 for 68%.
At the other end of the ranking, the 100th company has raised £105k. The median company has raised £1.30m, 43 of the top 100 have raised less than £1m, and only 16 have raised more than £10m.
Defence is playing a bigger role
Defence and counter-drone businesses feature prominently among the sector’s best-funded and fastest-growing companies.
That includes UFORCE, SteelRock Technologies, Heimdall Industries, Drone Defence, and OpenWorks Engineering. These companies span military uncrewed vehicles, detection systems, and countermeasures.
The sector also includes established groups such as Chemring, Gama Aviation, and Kromek Group. Together, these three companies account for £250m of the funding recorded in the analysis.
Who is investing in UK drone companies?
The investor mix is more varied than in many technology sectors.
Crowdcube is the most active investor in the cohort by number of rounds, with seven. Octopus Ventures follows with six, while Amadeus Capital Partners, the Gabriel Investment Syndicate, and the University of Strathclyde have participated in five each.
AALTO’s £79.2m round also brought in a Japanese investor syndicate including the Development Bank of Japan, Mizuho Capital, NTT DOCOMO Ventures, and Space Compass.
Where are the UK’s drone companies?
Drone companies are spread across 15 UK regions, making this one of the more geographically distributed sectors in our Top 100 series.
London has the largest share, with 40 of the top 100 companies. The South East follows with 19, while the South West has eight and the West Midlands five.
Scotland contributes nine companies across four regions.
