Harmattan AI, a French company that builds autonomous drones and the software that flies them, raised $200m in a Series B round led by Dassault Aviation, it announced on 12 January 2026. The round valued the company at $1.4bn, according to its investor Atlantic and to TechCrunch.
Dassault Aviation, best known for the Rafale fighter jet, invested as part of a strategic partnership. No other investors in the round were named. The two companies will develop embedded AI for future Rafale aircraft and for drone systems, TechCrunch reported.
Harmattan AI had raised $42m before the round, TechCrunch reported, bringing its total to $242m according to SiliconANGLE.
“We're keeping our full independence, and this raise was made on very classical NVCA terms.”Mouad M'Ghari, Co-founder and CEO, Harmattan AI
What Harmattan AI does
The company was founded in April 2024 and is based in Paris, according to Tectonic. It is led by co-founder and chief executive Mouad M'Ghari, with co-founder Martin de Gourcuff as chief technology officer.
Harmattan AI builds systems for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), drone interception and electronic warfare. SiliconANGLE listed its products as Sahara, a surveillance drone, Gobi, an interceptor drone, and Sonora, a training system. The company says it is already building thousands of drones a month, SiliconANGLE reported, and Tectonic said it aims to produce 10,000 of its smaller flagship drones a month by June 2026.
Atlantic said the company has delivered several programmes of record with the French and UK ministries of defence. Airforce Technology reported that the UK Ministry of Defence awarded it a contract in September 2025 that includes 3,000 units, and that a NATO government chose it earlier in 2025 to supply AI-equipped small drones. The company has also worked with Ukrainian drone maker Skyeton, according to TechCrunch.
Who invested
Earlier backers include Atlantic, which led the seed round, and FirstMark, which led the Series A, TechCrunch reported. Motier Ventures and Sisyphus Ventures have also invested.
M'Ghari told Tectonic that the company had kept its independence despite taking money from a large defence group. "We're keeping our full independence, and this raise was made on very classical NVCA terms," he said. He added that the company does not intend to build fighter jets and will stay in the market for lower-cost, expendable platforms.
French President Emmanuel Macron called the deal "excellent news for our strategic autonomy" in a social media post.
What the money is for
Harmattan AI said it will use the funds to expand its AI-enabled missions into new operational theatres, add products in new domains and scale industrial manufacturing of its ISR, drone interception and electronic warfare systems.
TechCrunch reported that the company also plans to expand its US team. Tectonic said Harmattan wants to grow in the US, Europe and the Middle East and to move into larger Group 2 and Group 3 drones, as well as integrate its autonomy software into Dassault platforms. The company did not disclose its headcount or revenue.
Company website: harmattan.ai