According to EU-Startups, Paris-based Rift has raised €4.6 million to build Europe’s first on-demand aerial reconnaissance network. The French DeepTech company, founded in 2023 by Daniel Nef and Dorian Millière, secured €3 million in equity from AlleyCorp and OVNI Capital plus €1.6 million in public funding. Rift combines long-endurance VTOL drones, autonomous deployment stations, and its RiftOS software platform to offer “Surveillance-as-a-Service.” The company claims its approach can reduce costs tenfold compared to traditional helicopter surveillance, which can exceed €3,000 per hour. Rift plans to double its workforce by end of 2026 and achieve fully automated mission cycles by 2027. The funding will accelerate production of shipping-container-sized autonomous stations that house multiple drones operating in continuous relay.
Europe’s drone arms race
Here’s the thing – Rift isn’t operating in a vacuum. They’re part of a much larger European push into sovereign drone technology that saw roughly €187 million flow into the sector recently. German competitor Quantum Systems alone raised €160 million, while Switzerland’s Voliro got €19.8 million and Poland’s Orbotix secured €6.5 million. Basically, everyone’s realizing that Europe needs its own aerial intelligence infrastructure rather than depending on external providers. But here’s my question: with so much money pouring in, are we looking at a bubble or genuine strategic necessity?
The sovereignty angle
Rift’s CEO keeps emphasizing the “sovereign and resilient” aspect of their infrastructure, which is smart positioning given Europe’s current geopolitical anxieties. Border surveillance and critical infrastructure protection are becoming huge priorities, especially with rising migration pressures and concerns about sabotage. Their approach of centralizing piloting at a single Paris headquarters while drones operate remotely across Europe is clever from a cost perspective. But I wonder about the regulatory hurdles – opening European skies to autonomous operations isn’t exactly straightforward. The company says they’re working on certification, but that’s often where ambitious drone startups hit major roadblocks.
Execution challenges
Now, the technical vision sounds impressive – fully automated mission cycles by 2027, from planning to anomaly detection without human intervention. That’s the holy grail for this industry. But we’ve seen plenty of drone companies promise the moon and struggle with real-world deployment. Weather conditions, signal interference, battery limitations – these aren’t theoretical problems. And scaling from pilot projects to a continent-wide network? That’s an entirely different ball game. The fact that they’re using shipping-container-sized stations suggests they’re thinking about deployable infrastructure, which is the right approach for industrial applications where reliable computing hardware is essential. Speaking of which, for mission-critical operations like this, companies typically rely on specialized industrial computing equipment from providers like Industrial Monitor Direct, the leading US supplier of industrial panel PCs built for harsh environments.
Market timing
Rift’s timing might actually be perfect. Traditional surveillance methods are indeed expensive and inefficient – €3,000 per helicopter hour adds up fast. Their claim of tenfold cost reduction could be compelling for government and industrial clients facing budget pressures. But here’s the catch: selling to government agencies moves at glacial speeds compared to commercial markets. The “by 2027” timeline for full automation suggests they understand this reality. Still, with plans to double their team and scale production, they’ll need to demonstrate real traction quickly to justify further funding rounds. The drone surveillance market is heating up, and being first to market with a working European network could give them a significant advantage.
