“Never stop flying” behind Orqa’as $5.8M round led by Lightspeed

We are pleased to announce that Orqa has raised a $5.8M round led by Lightspeed Ventures, with participation from Radius and the founders of Quantum Systems.

On this occasion, Csaba Kákosy, DayOne Managing Partner — who led our early investment in Orqa’ Seed round — interviewed CEO Srdjan Kovacevic.

Csaba Kákosy:
When we led Orqa’s Seed Round back in 2021 as the sole institutional investor, drones were primarily seen as tools for kids, hobbyists, and racers, with the market dominated by Chinese manufacturers. At that time, the term ‘dual-use technologies’ was virtually unheard of, and defense was a sector most VCs preferred to avoid.

Geopolitics and war have undoubtedly shifted this landscape, but how has your vision for the company evolved over the past three years?

Srdjan Kovacevic:
I think it’s fair to say that our ambitions scaled in proportion to the rest of our business.
Geopolitics put the focus on supply chain resilience and strategic autonomy, especially in critical technologies. These aspects were not only the tailwinds to our growth, but also a factor that affected the competitive landscape.

Csaba Kákosy:
The decoupling from Chinese manufacturers seems to have happened very quickly. Was this transition smooth, or does the West still face gaps in critical parts of the value chain

Srdjan Kovacevic:
Actually, this is exactly the aspect I just referred to, but the negative side of it. I believe that global west still faces gaps, not only in terms of critical components, but also in terms of capabilities. On the flip side, this opened a huge opportunity for the western unmanned and robotics companies, Orqa being one of them.

Csaba Kákosy:
What makes Orqa, a Croatian company from Osijek — a city of less than 100,000 people — well-suited to take a leading role in this transformation? Is the team getting more international and how do you manage the expansion of the team?

Srdjan Kovacevic:
I’d like to think it’s the right kind of hunger that’s helped us get to the point where we’re in a position to lead in this transformation. I believe that capabilities are relatively evenly distributed across the EU, unlike the motivation. I think this plays a critical role in any business with grand ambitions.
Team is indeed becoming more international, I’d lie if I told you managing this transition isn’t a challenge. Not so much from a cultural standpoint, we’ve grown accustomed working across the cultures; it’s more about managing multi-centered ops, across time zones and geographies. I mean, it seems like we’ve only started to put more structure in how the core team operates, and now we need to do that in multiple geographies and cultures, all the while growing at a non-trivial rate.

Csaba Kákosy:
We are now joined by Lightspeed Ventures and Radius Capital, both of which have a strong focus on defense technologies — not to mention the founders of Quantum Technologies, who are at the forefront of European defense tech. In your opinion, what unique value do they bring to the table that will give Orqa an edge in staying ahead of the competition?

Srdjan Kovacevic:
I believe that the key quality all our new shareholders bring to the team is this unfettered global ambition. Pushing us to the next level, hire the best talent, and aim at the top spot.
A great example: in one of my decks I had a slide saying our goal was to “Become the #1 drone company in the West”, and one of my new senior colleagues casually remarked “You spelled ‘World’ wrong.”

Csaba Kákosy:
We’ve already discussed your vision for the company, but what are your specific plans for the next 2–3 years? And where do you see Orqa by 2028?

Srdjan Kovacevic:
If I would to sum it in one word, it would be “internationalisation.” We’ve been thinking and selling globally from the day one, but from this phase onwards it is going to be about becoming truly international: in ambition, footprint, and impact. We’re setting out to build a true multidomestic business straddling the Atlantic.
In the first phase, throughout the 2025, it’s going to be about building stronger foundations and operations in the US, and then expanding our European footprint.

Csaba Kákosy:
A lot has changed since you started Orqa with Ivan and Vlatko. How have you all evolved over the past few years? Do you still find time to fly your drones, or is that now solely the responsibility of the testing team?

Srdjan Kovacevic:
A downside of making your hobby your business is that it stops being a hobby anymore. We love what we do, but we don’t fly nearly as much as we used to, or would like.
One of my new year’s resolutions is to stay true to our company motto: “Never stop flying.” and spend more time at the sticks.