Egide, a French defence technology company, raised an €8m (about $9.3m) seed round announced in March 2026. Expeditions, Eurazeo and Heartcore Capital co-led it, with Galion.exe and Kima Ventures also taking part, according to Tech.eu and Pulse 2.0.
No valuation was disclosed. The company was founded in 2025 and is based in Paris, according to Resilience Media. Neither report gave a headcount. The round was announced as policymakers and industry figures met in Paris that week.
“Strengthening Europe's sovereignty and resilience is a strategic priority in today's environment.”Thomas Turelier, Managing Director, Eurazeo
What Egide builds
Egide is developing an electrically propelled interceptor designed to be cheap enough to use against low-cost drones and strike systems. Alongside the hardware it is building Mystique, a software platform that is not tied to specific hardware. Tech.eu said it combines distributed sensors, AI-driven detection and layered interception. Pulse 2.0 said it works across air, ground and maritime settings.
The pitch rests on cost. Cheap attack drones have changed the economics of warfare, Heartcore Capital partner Jimmy Fussing Nielsen said, because defenders often use expensive missiles against inexpensive threats. Egide aims to offer capability that can be mass-produced and is affordable at scale.
The founders
Simon Calonne is an aerospace engineer who specialises in guidance, navigation and control. Florian Audigier is a pyrotechnics engineer with experience in warhead design. Both previously worked as engineers at MBDA, the European missile maker, Tech.eu reported.
Calonne said that Egide is building a new generation of scalable and affordable defence capabilities.
Resilience Media quoted Calonne as saying the ambition is to build a European leader in mass-affordable interceptors that protect forces and critical infrastructure against aerial, sea and ground threats. It reported no numerical targets for production or price.
Who invested
Expeditions, Eurazeo and Heartcore Capital share the lead. Mikołaj Firlej, co-founder and general partner at Expeditions, said his firm backs founders rebuilding the technological foundations of European security, and described low-cost drones as transforming the character of warfare and exposing the weaknesses of legacy defence systems.
Thomas Turelier, managing director at Eurazeo, said: "Strengthening Europe's sovereignty and resilience is a strategic priority in today's environment." Galion.exe and Kima Ventures took part without leading.
Firlej also said that Europe is entering a decisive moment in the rebuilding of its security architecture, according to Resilience Media.
What the money is for
Egide said the funds will speed up the design and production of its interceptors and the development of Mystique. It is also hiring engineers in electric propulsion, aerodynamics, warhead design and software, according to Tech.eu. Pulse 2.0 described the plan as growing the engineering team across Europe. The company's press release, as reported by Unmanned Airspace, listed the aims as reactive iteration against evolving targets, faster integration across different weapon platforms and missions, and lower cost and complexity than traditional defence systems.
The company has not published details of customers, contracts or test results, and the reports reviewed did not give a date for the first fielded system. Earlier funding was not mentioned in either report.