Seoul – September 07, 2026 -- Airbility, a South Korean aerospace and defense startup, has raised USD 4.7 million (KRW 6.5 billion) in a Series A round led by Silicon Valley-based Sazze Partners, bringing its total funding to USD 7.6 million (KRW 10.5 billion).
Sazze Partners makes its first defense-sector bet on Airbility
Existing backer Stonebridge Ventures joined the round with a follow-on investment, and Industrial Bank of Korea came in as a new shareholder. Airbility's cap table also includes Samho Green Investment, Mashup Ventures, BASS Ventures and 500 Global. Sazze Partners, founded in 2018, has backed more than 100 companies including Korean AI firm Upstage, but this marks its first defense-sector investment.
Airbility targets a three-interceptor counter-drone lineup by mid-2027
Proceeds will fund commercialization of an end-to-end counter-unmanned aircraft system built around Airbility's high-speed eVTOL platforms. The lineup includes the net-gun-equipped AB-U10, designed for roughly 180 km/h and slated for commercialization by end-2026, and the AB-U60 mothership platform targeted for 2027. Two new interceptors -- the compact kinetic AB-U2 and the fixed-wing AB-U4L, designed for approximately 300 km/h -- are planned for the first half of 2027, completing a three-interceptor portfolio.
Company claims engagement costs as low as USD 50, versus USD 4 million for a Patriot intercept
Airbility positions its air-to-air interceptors against a widening cost gap in drone defense: a Shahed-type one-way attack drone is often cited at roughly USD 35,000, while a Patriot interceptor can run about USD 4 million. The company estimates its approach can bring engagement costs down to between USD 50 and USD 3,000 depending on configuration, and expects its domestically developed AB series to be priced at roughly one-tenth of comparable overseas systems.
Airbility is in talks with counterparties in more than nine countries
Commercial discussions are underway across the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Latin America, with four memoranda of understanding and two joint-venture initiatives in progress. In Korea, the company secured USD 2.2 million (KRW 3 billion) in R&D support through the Korea AeroSpace Administration's 2026 Scale-Up TIPS program and is building domestic references via projects with the Republic of Korea Marine Corps and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration.
Founded by veterans of Korea's KT-1, T-50 and KF-21 programs
Airbility was co-founded in November 2023 by researchers from the Agency for Defense Development, where three senior technical leaders each spent between 25 and 31 years, alongside professionals from Hyundai Motor, the MIT Media Lab, LG Electronics and Genesis Design. Of its 26 employees, roughly 80 percent work in R&D. In December 2025, the company completed transition-flight demonstrations across three prototype aircraft, and its 4-kilogram-class AB-U4 entered commercialization in 2025.
Co-CEO Jinmo Lee said the company aims to expand from aircraft sales to integrated system sales, convert its overseas pipeline into contracts, and target KRW 50 billion in cumulative revenue by 2028.