ABZ Innovation, a Europe-based maker of heavy-duty agricultural and industrial drones, has raised $8.2 million in a funding round led by Vsquared Ventures, with participation from Day One Capital and Assembly Ventures. The company said the new capital will be used to expand manufacturing capacity, accelerate product development, and support commercial growth in key international markets, including continued traction in the United States.
The financing comes as European drone companies face intensified competition from Chinese manufacturers that dominate global supply. ABZ is positioning itself as a European-built alternative in the heavy-duty segment, emphasizing supply chain security and data sovereignty alongside performance and cost competitiveness. The company is headquartered in Hungary and operates within what it describes as a growing regional robotics cluster, pairing hardware with a full-stack European autonomy platform intended to support industrial-grade operations rather than consumer applications.
ABZ said its drones are already deployed through partners in more than 25 countries. The company’s product focus centers on high-payload platforms designed for demanding environments, where reliability, operator safety, and repeatable results are critical. ABZ is targeting two primary verticals: agriculture and industrial services.
In agriculture, ABZ’s spraying and spreading drones are designed to help growers apply crop protection products and fertilizers more precisely. The company said these systems can reduce chemical and water usage while helping address labor constraints—particularly in orchards and other high-value crops where manual work is intensive and operating conditions can be challenging. The broader pitch is that aerial application becomes an automation layer that can be deployed quickly, scaled through local service providers, and adapted to varied field conditions without the need for large capital equipment.
In industrial environments, ABZ is marketing cleaning drones that can remove people from hazardous tasks such as work at height or operating on contaminated surfaces. The company argues that using drones for these jobs can improve safety, cut operational downtime, and enable service providers to deliver faster turnarounds for maintenance and cleaning activities. The focus on service economics is central to ABZ’s go-to-market approach, which relies on a distributor and partner ecosystem to turn drone deployments into repeatable, revenue-generating services.
ABZ said the investor group brings experience scaling hardware and deep-tech companies, and that the round is intended to support the company’s next phase of growth. That includes scaling production to meet demand, expanding R&D to improve platform capability, and strengthening its global distribution and support network. In addition to building drones, ABZ is positioning its offering as an end-to-end automation platform, combining robust airframes and payload capacity with autonomy software intended to meet European requirements around data security and operational control.
Investors framed the deal as an opportunity to build competitive “sovereign” drone capabilities in Europe at a time when governments and large industrial buyers are increasingly scrutinizing supply chains, security requirements, and restrictions affecting incumbent suppliers. ABZ’s backers pointed to the company’s emphasis on performance, reliability, and an autonomy stack built on European technologies as differentiators that can help it compete in both European and U.S. markets.
The company said the funding will help make advanced drone technology more accessible worldwide by enabling partners to work faster and safer with fewer resources. ABZ’s near-term priorities include increasing manufacturing throughput, shortening product development cycles, and supporting a growing base of distributors and service providers with training, maintenance, and long-term operational support.
KEY QUOTES:
“Our mission is simple: we build drones that take people out of dangerous, repetitive work while helping farmers and industrial operators do more with less. This investment lets us scale production, deepen R&D, and equip a growing global network of distributors and service providers with reliable, heavy-duty systems they can turn into revenue-generating services.”
Karoly Ludvigh, CEO, ABZ Innovation
“ABZ Innovation stands out by approaching drones not as individual products, but as an end-to-end automation platform for real industrial and agricultural use cases. The incredible team has a clear problem–product–solution mindset, combines robust hardware with a European autonomy stack, and is already proving it can compete globally on performance and cost. That combination is exactly what Europe needs to build: competitive, sovereign drone capabilities at scale.”
Thomas Oehl, General Partner, Vsquared Ventures
“The CEE region is producing a growing number of top-tier deep tech companies that are becoming leaders on the global stage. Day One Capital is committed to backing founders and companies of this caliber. ABZ Innovation is a perfect example, and we are delighted to welcome them to our portfolio.”
Csaba Kákosi, Managing Partner, Day One Capital
“We’re excited to partner with the ABZ Innovation team. As incumbent leaders face mounting restrictions, the opportunity for a new category-defining company in aerial drones is wide open. ABZ’s commitment to hardware performance, data security, and supply chain reliability positions them to lead across European and US markets. This investment reflects Assembly’s focus on backing exceptional companies at key inflection points.”
Felix Scheuffelen, Co-Founder, Assembly Ventures
