FuVeX raises €3m to put Spanish drones on power lines and borders
The Pamplona-founded firm says it has inspected more than 36,000 kilometres of power line. It now wants 70% of Spain's distribution grid by 2027, and a defence business alongside it.
Spanish drone maker FuVeX has raised €3 million. The company describes the round as oversubscribed.
The investors named are SODENA, SEGO Venture and Izertis Ventures, plus several family offices the company links to industry, agriculture and innovation. FuVeX also says it has commitments in place for future rounds.
Separately, it has secured €400,000 in public money from CDTI, Spain's industrial technology development centre, for a defence research and development project.
FuVeX was founded in 2013 by Carlos Matilla. It designs, builds and flies long-range drones, and sells the same platform to civil and defence buyers — the dual-use pitch that European defence investors have spent the past two years chasing.
The aircraft fly beyond visual line of sight at ranges of up to 10 kilometres, according to the company. The stated benefit is faster inspections, lower operating costs and fewer people sent up pylons.
Its commercial business so far is electricity. FuVeX says it has inspected more than 36,000 kilometres of power lines under contracts with UFD, the distribution arm of Naturgy, and with Endesa.
The target is 70% of Spain's electricity distribution network by 2027. That is the company's own goal, not an order book.
Beyond that it names agriculture, oil and gas, and other critical infrastructure in Europe and Latin America.
Matilla frames the round as a bet on European supply. He says the drones are designed, manufactured and operated in Europe, and ties that to the continent's strategic autonomy.
The money goes on commercial and defence operations, hiring in technology, industrial and commercial teams, more manufacturing capacity, and further research into drone systems for defence and security.
For founders in the same space, the interesting number is not €3 million. It is 36,000 kilometres of paid inspection work: a defence-adjacent hardware company funding its own development on utility contracts, then adding the defence line once the flying hours exist.
That order matters. Grid inspection contracts are procurable today by a company of this size; defence procurement usually is not. FuVeX has taken the revenue that was available and used it to buy credibility in the market it actually wants.
What the round does not disclose is a valuation, a headcount, or how much of the 36,000 kilometres is recurring. Anyone benchmarking against it should ask for those before drawing conclusions.