Press release
This fund-raising, led by leading AI and defense investors, will enable Alta Ares to accelerate the development and deployment of its ground-to-air systems combining interceptors, data fusion software, radars and on-board AI.
Paris - Kyiv - June 9, 2026. Alta Ares, a defense company specializing in air defense and embedded AI, announces a €50 million round of financing, led by Air Street Capital, a European fund specializing in AI technologies, alongside Cherry VC, OTB Ventures and Harpoon Ventures. This round comes at a time when the company is experiencing a strong commercial acceleration, with several contracts signed, and deployments underway in several theaters of operation in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
" We are delighted to have the support of renowned European technology investors, and the renewed confidence of our historic investors, to accompany this new stage in our development. Modern warfare is based on speed, volume and, above all, the ability to adapt continuously. Alta Ares was born out of this operational reality. We don't just want to develop a technology, we want to provide a complete air defense capability. This fund-raising gives us the means to accelerate our industrialization, product development and international expansion. »says Hadrien Canter, CEO and co-founder of Alta Ares.
A capability gap in the air defense architecture
Massive air strikes in the Middle East and Eastern Europe have highlighted the limitations of traditional air defense systems. Today, modern warfare is defined by fast, low-cost, mass-deployed autonomous systems, which have inverted the economic equation of warfare. NATO allies are faced with complex, coordinated salvos, sometimes combining more than 600 drones and dozens of missiles in a single night. Protecting airspace means switching to a new generation of platforms, designed from the outset for autonomy, modularity and interoperability.
Developing an operational solution to meet new airborne threats
Founded in 2024 and born of the reality on the ground in Ukraine, Alta Ares was built around a simple conviction: modern warfare demands agile, scalable and adaptive systems. Alta Ares positions itself as a capacity provider, thanks to an architecture based on automated AI detection, identification and interception.
Capable of operating in arctic and desert conditions, Alta Ares is currently developing and deploying two classes of interceptor.
- X-Lock for Shahed-136 type threats with short range (15 km).
- The Black Bird for high-speed targets such as KH101 cruise missiles and FAB500 gliding bombs, with medium-range action (30 km).
Industrialize and accelerate technology deployment
Deployed in three conflict zones simultaneously, Alta Ares now enjoys a competitive edge thanks to operational feedback. NATO awarded the company a prize in March 2025, and is supporting it as it matures.
Against this backdrop, the company's commercial development has accelerated both in Europe and internationally, with contracts worth several million euros signed. To support this growth, Alta Ares is bolstering its teams, with additional hires planned between now and the end of the year. Several high-level profiles are already working with the company, including advisors Philippe Lavigne (former Chief of Staff of the French Air and Space Force, then NATO Supreme Allied Commander Transformation) and Corentin Lancrenon (French Army General).
Alta Ares is also planning to open new offices in the Middle East and Asia, as well as increasing the capacity of its production units in France (Toulouse) and Ukraine.
Scaling up to become a European player in air defense
Led by Air Street Capital, a benchmark fund dedicated to «AI-first» companies, this fundraising brings together a pool of strategic investors specialized in AI and defense. The company's historical investors are also renewing their support, confirming their confidence in Alta Ares' vision and growth trajectory.
" Alta Ares embodies a new generation of European defense players: companies capable of rapidly developing sovereign, field-proven systems incorporating cutting-edge AI technologies. It is with this kind of highly agile and competitive player that our democracies will be able to respond to the pace of contemporary conflicts. We are convinced that Alta Ares has the potential to become a global player in anti-drone warfare and, more generally, in air defense. »comments Nathan Benaich, founder of Air Street Capital.
Through this operation, Alta Ares is positioning itself not just to be reactive to airborne threats, but to anticipate them technologically, in order to provide its partners with the most appropriate solutions as conflicts evolve.
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About Alta Ares
Alta Ares is a defense company specializing in air defense and autonomous systems. Founded in 2024, and today present in Europe, the United States and the Middle East, the company designs and develops for its customers a complete air defense platform, combining software (detection, tracking, terminal guidance) and hardware (effectors), proven in the field. Alta Ares is present and deployed in several theaters of operation.
www.altaares.com
About Air Street Capital
Air Street Capital is Europe's largest single-partner venture capital fund, with 400 M$ in assets under management, investing in AI-focused companies in the US and Europe. Air Street and its founder have backed Black Forest Labs, Crusoe, ElevenLabs, Lambda, Niantic, Odyssey, Profluent, Synthesia, Valence Discovery (acq. Recursion) and Wayve. You can access the annual State of AI report at stateof.ai.
Full media kit here: Media Kit
Media contacts
Sara-Louise Boukara
altaares@vae-solis.com
+33 6 17 76 79 71
Thomas Coulom
altaares@vae-solis.com
+33 6 45 83 91 08
