Florian Seibel thought he might be about to catch a bad cold.
The German cofounder and CEO of autonomous drones startup Quantum Systems had spent the weekend wrapping up his company’s latest unicorn-making fundraise — and, as he spoke to me over a video call from his car while at the company’s offsite last week, thought the stress of the past couple of months might catch up with him.
Last Tuesday, his 10-year-old startup, which builds dual-use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) which can spy enemy whereabouts and deliver intelligence, announced it raised €160m in Series C funding led by British VC Balderton Capital. The deal pushes the company’s valuation past $1bn, making it one of only a few unicorns in European defence tech.
Despite the milestone, Seibel wasn’t feeling celebratory.
War rages on in Ukraine, where his Munich-based company has a factory and now employs about 120 people. “There’s a reason why we have achieved that unicorn status,” Seibel tells me, “and a lot of reasons lie in Ukraine.”
Meanwhile the US has grown increasingly hostile toward Europe, pushing the continent to up its defence spending and threatening a global trade war. The choice of a big British fund to lead Quantum Systems’ most recent fundraise was deliberate. “The US may not be the most reliable partner for the years to come. I think that was also a statement we wanted to make,” Seibel says.
Competition is also heating up — including from local German heavyweight and fellow defence tech unicorn, AI and strike drones startup Helsing.
It’s “become clear to me in the last week that there’s a huge chance in this now, and we have to reinvent ourselves,” Seibel tells Sifted in a wide-ranging conversation.
And so on to Quantum System’s next task: doubling down on new software in a bid to keep ahead of rivals.
Going all in on software
Seibel, a former helicopter pilot who spent 16 years in the German armed forces, founded Quantum Systems in 2015, feeling frustrated with how slow-moving the military’s procurement processes were. At first, the startup focused on agricultural applications, but it pivoted to working on dual-use military drones a few years later.
In 2022, when war broke out in Ukraine, everything changed.
The startup today earns the vast majority of its revenue from military drones, with nearly half of sales last year coming from the US, Seibel says. He predicts revenues will hit €250m this year — up from about €115m in 2024. The company says it will have 1,000 drones in Ukraine this year, with about 500 operating on a daily basis.
Quantum Systems has also won several programmes of record (pre-approved and budgeted pots of money for specific defence capabilities) with the government in the US, Colombia, Ukraine, Australia, Germany and Spain. And it’s raised €310m in total from investors like Project A, German-American investor Peter Thiel, Hensoldt, Airbus Defense and Space, Bullhound Capital, HV Capital, DTCP, Omnes Capital and Porsche SE.
But hardware alone won’t be enough to grow the company long-term. Quantum Systems is now preparing a big new software rollout in June of an unmanned systems operating system which will enable users to integrate and control a flock of third-party drones, says Seibel.
The move brings Quantum Systems (originally hardware-focused) and Helsing (originally software-focused until it began producing drones late last year) into even closer competition.
The rivalry between the two is palpable in the industry: don’t expect to see Seibel going out to dinner with Helsing founders Gundbert Scherf or Torsten Reil, some jest. Seibel says he believes Europe is big enough for the two to be successful, and that Quantum Systems’ new unicorn status “puts a new balance of power” between the two companies (Helsing was valued at over €5bn last summer).
Software is “a logical next step now,” Seibel says — and, as a result, Quantum Systems is on a hiring drive for new roles in software, AI and drone capabilities like swarming. He aims to increase headcount from the current 500 to about 750 by the end of 2025.
Seibel wants Quantum Systems to follow the “Anduril approach” — of integrating hardware into its own software architecture — rather than striving to become the next traditional defence prime like Airbus or BAE Systems.
The journey to get there could include an IPO as early as next year. Seibel says Quantum Systems is on track to hit €500m in revenue in 2026, at which point he thinks “it’s a strong case” for an IPO — provided the company also has a few more programmes of record to give them stability.
That journey might also involve Seibel learning to be more pragmatic in his approach to governments and investors.
A controversial reputation
“Outspoken.” “Gregarious.” “Harsh.” “Controversial.”
Those words repeatedly came up in Sifted’s conversations with numerous people close to Seibel — including investors, lawyers and fellow founders — to describe both the man and his communication style.
Anyone that follows Seibel on LinkedIn can see why such adjectives crop up; the founder often posts or voices critical opinions about governments or competitors. “Sometimes for the [sake] of the investors, [he’s] a bit too outspoken,” says Christian Saller, general partner at HV Capital, who sits on Quantum Systems’ board, before adding that he believes it shows how passionate and authentic Seibel is. “It’s good to have someone who rams his head against walls to get through.”
But one particular incident did not sit well with either investors or other companies. Last autumn, Seibel posted — and quickly deleted — a critique of Helsing’s leaked specs for its new HX-2 drone on LinkedIn, insinuating that Helsing was using the Ukraine war as marketing. It was taken down following legal action by Helsing. Helsing and Quantum Systems both declined to comment.
As the company gets bigger and is increasingly a “part of the setup of different armies in Europe, it is, of course, also important that he has a little bit more restraint. I think he understands that,” says Saller.
“He’s one of those people that probably, after a certain point, [is] gonna have his PR people take his social media accounts away from him,” laughs Srdjan Kovacevic, CEO of drone products manufacturer Orqa, which Seibel has personally invested in. “But I think he’s not quite there yet.”
Seibel’s communication faux pas aren’t limited to online posting.
Roughly a year ago, Seibel launched strike drones startup Stark. As the story goes, Seibel was approached by the German government to equip Quantum Systems’ surveillance drones with weapons, but was unable to do so owing to some of his investors’ limitations around investing in weapons.
He ultimately started a separate company, but some investors worried that Seibel might spend too much time on Stark, or that Quantum Systems might lose value as a result. The whole process was “horribly managed,” according to one Quantum Systems investor, who requested anonymity to speak freely. Another person close to the situation said that some investors wanted free shares in the new company, which caused tension.
Seibel stepped back from any operational roles at Stark eventually, and is now a founding investor who is not very involved in the day-to-day, Sifted understands.
Adrian Haase, a lawyer at YPOG who has worked with Quantum Systems for about four years and facilitated transactions including the most recent Series C fundraise, calls Seibel a “strong” founder who is “very well positioned to negotiate for himself.”
He’s one of those people that probably, after a certain point, is gonna have his PR people take his social media accounts away from him
Seibel seems not to censor himself no matter who is around him. Saller recalls a dinner he hosted in Berlin about a year ago with the then-German finance minister Jörg Kukuies, Seibel and a number of other entrepreneurs. “We discussed several topics, and then at some point a bit later in the evening, [Seibel] was like, ‘Okay, so nice what we’re discussing, but really, this all doesn’t matter if you don’t make sure that Ukraine survives.’ You could really see that he deeply cares about this.”
For Seibel, it’s simple: “If I feel that something is wrong, I point it out,” he says, regardless of whether it’s a politician or military leader, or something to do with engineering or marketing. “This is the problem that we have in Europe: that we have been talking too long and being complacent.”
Even so, he’s eager to not come across as the always-bad-tempered guy. “I’m a very happy person,” says Seibel; he’s playing with his dog shortly after he hops on the phone with me.
Several people who know Seibel also describe him as funny and kind. Seibel says that he and his management team have an executive coach, and recognises there’s room for improvement.
A renewed lobbying push
One area where there’s potential to be better: lobbying.
The way Seibel tells it, he (and Quantum Systems) learned that securing a contract isn’t as simple as having the best product. “We also had to learn that on our home turf, other competitors that are new in this area have done much better homework in influencing political leaders on what they should buy and what programmes should be initiated,” he says, seemingly referencing Helsing. One of Helsing’s backers, US VC firm General Catalyst, is also upping its political influence in Europe.
“This was a lesson learned for me — that unfortunately, I think, a lot of political influencing and business development is needed in Berlin, but also in other headquarters across Europe, in order to be successful,” he says.
One problem: Seibel has admittedly spent years antagonising the German government, and according to some, that hasn’t always been appreciated.
“Maybe Florian’s being inspired by American founders and how they push,” a former defence official responsible for unmanned autonomous systems who knows Seibel, told Sifted. They said it must be hard to see the success of US defence tech founders of the likes of Anduril and Palantir who aggressively and publicly talk about the problems they see in society and changes that need to be made. It’s difficult doing that in Europe, “where there’s still a measure of diplomacy and traditional [values where] we treat everyone with very heavy degrees of respect.”
NATO wants “people who work in defence to have a measure of poise. We’re trusting them with our security and our safety,” they said.
Seibel concedes there’s been some historical animosity. He says during 2019, 2020 and 2021, “I was heavily attacking the government and military decision makers in Berlin, [calling] them out. That has not made me a lot of friends in the military environment.”
Most of the political hobnobbing now falls to his newly-appointed co-CEO Sven Kruck. Seibel is happy that Kruck, who was formerly head of sales, is taking a different, more positive approach, “restarting” the company’s relationship with the government. According to investor Saller, Kruck’s appointment gives Seibel more time to focus on the product vision and strategy, leaving Kruck to handle more day-to-day affairs.
I was heavily attacking the government and military decision makers in Berlin. …That has not made me a lot of friends in the military environment
To Seibel’s knowledge, Quantum has never lost a deal because of his poor relations with the government — although “maybe some deals were not created because of me being that way,” he says.
Even so, Seibel says it’s important to be pushing these conversations about how Europe needs to change.
When asked what he thought about US vice president JD Vance’s controversial speech at the Munich Security Conference earlier this year — where the Republican accused Europe of suppressing free speech and eschewing voters’ wishes — Seibel laughs, but largely takes Vance’s side.
“I think he was right on some points. He was right [that] Europe needs to define who we are and what we want.” Seibel even likens himself to Vance: “Maybe he’s a little bit like the Florian that raises these things and then gets beaten for it.” (Vance has since taken a more tame tone toward Europe.)
Florian the angel
For roughly the past year and a half, Seibel has also worn yet another cap: that of angel investor. Seibel has amassed a personal portfolio of at least eight companies, largely in the defence space.
His angel bets include unmanned robotics startup ARX Robotics, drones products manufacturer Orqa FPV, bio-robots maker Swarm Biotactics, maritime technology firm Kraken Technology Group, sustainable mobility startup EFT Mobility, sensors manufacturer Weles Acoustics, hypersonic vehicles company Hypersonica and, of course, Stark.
According to two founders of Seibel’s angel investments, he’s a very technically-focused and supportive addition to the cap table. Orqa CEO Kovacevic says Seibel is “very generous” with his time, contacts and advice, often sharing potential partners and investors with Orqa.
ARX Robotics CEO Marc Wietfeld tells Sifted that Seibel, who was one of the startup’s first investors, is very hands-on with the technical aspects of his company. He recalls one day when ARX launched a new product, Seibel travelled to spend the day with them testing the system — he was “driving too fast with the robot [and he] nearly got driven over,” he laughs. “These are not things a normal angel investor or industry partner is doing.”
Wietfeld adds that Seibel is “always available,” even in the middle of the night or early morning hours.
Seibel says the investing is partly to “give back” to the ecosystem, and also a way to surround himself with potential partners — or even acquisition targets. He says he’d be happy if each of the startups he’s invested in is able to grow big enough to be sustainable companies, “but if the question is, at one point, does Rheinmetall [a German defence prime] acquire one of them, or do we acquire them, or do we merge with them? Then the answer for me is clear, that Quantum should try to merge with them.”
Quantum Systems’ — and Seibel’s — next chapter
When I ask what’s next for him — whether he’d step down from Quantum Systems or start another company — Seibel gets introspective. “There’s more to life than building company after company. You sacrifice a lot,” the 45-year-old says.
“I love animals. I love dogs. I love flying gliders. I could see myself reinventing myself a few years from now.”
Perhaps in contrast to what one thinks of a defence and weapons company founder, Seibel has a spiritual side. “I believe in chances, I believe in destiny, I believe in karma,” he says. Seibel grew up in the Protestant church, but left a few years ago. “I do believe in a bigger ‘something’. I do believe that there is somebody who guides us, but I don’t know if that is God or something else.”
I could see myself reinventing myself a few years from now
But, for now, he’s focused on more concrete matters.
He’s in the process of helping create a new startup in the cybersecurity and electronic warfare space, although it’s still in the ideation phase. But for Seibel, “the whole focus is really Quantum. Quantum is the baby. The ultimate goal is to make Quantum as big as possible,” he says.
“Quantum is the one, and if that takes 15 years to build — we are in year 11 now — then so be it. If it takes 18 years, so be it; if it takes 12 years, and we IPO next year and I’m getting asked to leave, then so be it,” adds Seibel.
He doesn’t want to be an Elon Musk-type, founding and running multiple companies. “I don’t have a clear plan. What is clear to me is, Quantum is the first and the last company that I personally build.”
“I’m definitely not gonna pull off something as big as Quantum again.”
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/quantum-systems-strategy-ipo/
