UAE defense group EDGE increases investment in Israeli drone software company
EDGE has expanded its strategic investment in High Lander as the company raises an additional $16 million, bringing total funding to $30 million. High Lander is extending its software from drone fleet management and air traffic coordination into defense and homeland security.
Israeli company High Lander, which develops software for autonomous aviation, drone fleet operations and airspace management, has raised an additional $16 million, bringing its total funding to $30 million. The latest financing includes an additional strategic investment from EDGE Group, the United Arab Emirates’ defense technology conglomerate, alongside participation from Protego, STEP and Kinetica.
The funding completes a Series A round in which High Lander previously raised $14 million. The company says its investors bring strategic relationships and expertise across autonomous systems, aerospace, defense technology, homeland security and international market expansion. EDGE’s additional investment deepens an existing relationship, while the participation of Protego, STEP and Kinetica expands High Lander’s network in the U.S. autonomous systems market and the global defense technology sector.
High Lander develops software infrastructure for managing autonomous aviation, drone fleets and low-altitude airspace. Founded in 2018, the company offers two core platforms: Vega, which coordinates uncrewed aircraft traffic across airspace environments, and Orion, which enables organizations to remotely manage drone fleets and autonomous missions.
Building on these capabilities, High Lander is expanding into national security and defense with Andromeda, an AI-powered operational intelligence platform designed to create a unified picture of low-altitude airspace. Its open, hardware-agnostic architecture is designed to integrate sensors and effectors from multiple manufacturers under a single control layer. The system combines High Lander’s airspace management capabilities with technologies from international partners for detection, classification, tracking and operational response, helping operators distinguish authorized activity from unidentified or unauthorized aircraft.
The new capital will support High Lander’s expansion in the United States and other international markets, continued development of Vega, Orion and Andromeda, and the extension of its technology into defense, homeland security and dual-use applications.
As part of this expansion, the company is establishing a major operational hub in the United States to serve as the base for its North American activities. The facility is expected to include control rooms and a testing and demonstration center for integrating and evaluating partner technologies, demonstrating operational capabilities and supporting projects and commercial agreements the company is pursuing in the U.S.
The expansion comes as governments seek better ways to monitor drone activity and manage increasingly crowded low-altitude airspace. In Israel, regulatory initiatives are underway to broaden drone monitoring and identification, alongside plans to establish a national civil authority for low-altitude airspace. The proposed authority is expected to help formulate policy and advance regulation in the sector.
“High Lander is entering a new phase,” said Alon Abelson, the company’s founder and CEO. “Over the past several years, we have built the technological infrastructure that enables countries and organizations to manage a world in which autonomous systems are becoming an integral part of the airspace. We are now taking that same infrastructure to a new scale, expanding into new markets, the security sector, and strategic collaborations with leading technology players worldwide.”
Abelson said the completion of the funding round would allow the company to accelerate strategic initiatives and expand its international operations. He said High Lander aims to become the software layer connecting autonomy, aviation and security, giving countries greater ability to understand and control activity in low-altitude airspace.
