The 2023 data now separates drone company funding from AAM/eVTOL funding, which significantly boosted the total in 2020 and 2021.
Drone companies received US$1.7 billion in 2023, half of the US$3.3 billion received in 2022. After doubling between 2020 and 2021, funding has decreased in 2022 and halved in 2023. This could be due to challenges in growing past the startup stage, as later-stage venture capital investments have decreased globally.
For several years, funding for drone companies broke records annually. Investment infographics show that funding doubled twice, from 2019 to 2020 and from 2020 to 2021. However, in 2022, both the total funding value and the number of funding deals involving drone companies decreased for the first time. In 2023, global drone company funding totaled US$1.7 billion, with a slight decrease in the number of deals but a significant decrease in total value.
IPO and post-IPO deal values more than doubled, indicating strong signs for companies entering financial markets. However, the number of these deals decreased compared to the previous year. Fewer companies benefited from these deals, but those who did benefited significantly.
According To Drone Industry Insights, North America received 71% of global drone funding in 2023, followed by Europe (17%), the Middle East and Africa (MEA) (6%), and Asia (5%). North America’s share has decreased since 2021, while Europe’s share has increased. Asia’s share has decreased, and the MEA region surpassed Asia to take third place.
Investments were predominantly allocated to drone hardware companies, a trend likely to continue due to the high entry cost of manufacturing drone platforms. After hardware, drone service companies received more funding than drone software companies, reversing the pattern from 2022.
