Osijek Company Orqa Opening Drone Factory in USA

Lauren Simmonds

osijek company orqa
Davor Javorovic/PIXSELL

December the 14th, 2024 – The Osijek company Orqa is set to open a drone factory across the pond in the USA following a generous 5.8 million euro investment.

As Netrokracija/Marin Pavelic writes, Orqa has secured 5.8 million euros in a seed round of funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Alongside their existing investor, the Hungarian Day One Capital, American funds Radius Capital and Decisive Point also participated.

These funds will be invested in expanding the Osijek company Orqa’s global presence, increasing production capacities and encouraging further technological development. Orqa’s aim is to position itself as a leading supplier of technologies for unmanned systems here in the West.

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The Osijek company Orqa, which started out as a humble hardware consulting company, is gradually becoming one of the leaders in security solutions.

Geopolitical issues have forced Orqa to the forefront. The war in Ukraine increased the demand for their products, with thousands of Orqa drones being used there on a monthly basis. The need for unmanned aerial vehicles has also shot up owing to incidents in the Red Sea that disrupted global supply chains. As such, this Croatian enterprise’s strategic opportunities in the defence sector, as well as the enterprise sector, have also increased.

Orqa’s co-founder and CEO Srđan Kovačević revealed more about the company’s ambitious plans.

the osijek company orqa plans to launch production in the USA

The fact that they were recognised by the aforementioned investors is considered a milestone and validation of everything Orqa has done so far, Srđan points out:

“Big names like these change our reputation on a global level, which means that we no longer have to convince anyone of what we we’re working towards. This investment opens the door for Orqa to an international presence, with the first steps being directed towards the American market, followed by that of Europe.

Over the first six months of next year, Orqa plans to create ten new jobs in the USA. In the second half of the year, the company will focus on expansion in Europe, with an emphasis placed heavily on Germany. Orqa also plans to continue hiring here at home in Croatia,” the Orqa CEO revealed

Srđan added that by the end of 2025, they plan to launch production in the US and establish a team in London, which will be led by the recently hired Chief Product Officer Arnaud Thiercelin. Incidentally, Arnaud previously worked for major competitors DJI and Auterion.

Major market opportunities

The Osijek company Orqa began with the idea of ​​dealing with “hobbyist” technologies, but owing to the war in Ukraine, the technologies they deal with started to be used for defence purposes. Orqa then found itself as being among only a few Western companies that possesses the necessary technological know-how to build unmanned systems, Srđan points out:

“There’s currently a rush on to acquire these technologies because NATO has completely changed its mind about unmanned systems as a result of the war in Ukraine. It’s precisely this sense of urgency that has enabled faster development and business agreements,” Srđan points out. However, they had to meet various stringent requirements like those of the US NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) in order to gain the trust of Western markets.

As far as the enterprise segment (which will be worth 41.3 billion USD by 2026) is concerned, Orqa will remain focused on applications that include remote inspection, security monitoring and emergency response in a wide range of industries. This includes energy, utilities and construction. Srđan describes their approach:

“DJI has never offered enterprise solutions in the true sense of the word. They have a closed system and limited support, so you never know if they’ll just choose to shut down a feature. I’d say they’re a bit like Apple in the sense that they might just decide to shut down a certain feature which then ruins an application. Their competitor, Microsoft, knows exactly where that’s going. We want to be closer to the Microsoft approach where we provide far more customisation to the end user.

Competing with solutions from the East

The Osijek company Orqa is increasingly emerging as a key strategic player in the global drone industry thanks to its vertical integration which ensures quality, scalability and resilience to supply chain disruptions. Developing complete drone systems and ensuring reliability for Western drone ecosystems positions them as a strong alternative to China’s DJI.

With this new round of funding, Orqa is set to strengthen its software, sales and manufacturing capabilities and accelerate global expansion. Doing all of the above will further solidify its position as the leading Western drone manufacturer that meets the highest safety and regulatory standards.

 

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