An Israeli drone company, Heven AeroTech, has reached a reported valuation exceeding one billion dollars after raising about $100 million. The funding round was led by IonQ, a quantum-computing firm that also joined forces with Heven to embed quantum sensing and navigation tech into its drones.
Heven — originally founded in Israel in 2019 — builds hydrogen-powered drones capable of long-range flights and heavy payloads. With IonQ’s backing, Heven plans to integrate quantum communications, navigation, and security systems. The companies say this could make the drones much more reliable in contested environments, especially where GPS or traditional navigation may be jammed.
The investment makes Heven one of Israel’s first “defense-tech unicorns,” a sign of growing global investor appetite for military-grade drone technology. Industry experts see this as a broader shift: drones and autonomous aircraft are now central in global defense strategies, and private firms like Heven are racing to deliver advanced capabilities.