Ukrainian-Estonian company Black Forest Systems, which develops unmanned systems, has raised $400,000 in investment from two Swedish investment companies. This was announced in the company’s press release.
The lead investor in the round was Swedish firm Front Ventures, while Hede Capital Partners AB participated as a co-investor.
Black Forest Systems’ flagship product is the Shadox reconnaissance unmanned system. The drone is designed for rapid deployment and short-range missions, making it suitable for use directly on the front line.
According to Oleksii Vinter, CTO of Black Forest Systems, the investment will enable the company to move to the industrialization stage of the Shadox system. This includes finalizing engineering solutions, preparing production, and building the structure required for large-scale military deployment of the system.
The press release states that Black Forest Systems’ solutions are vertically integrated platforms. They combine proprietary electronics, secure communication channels, and control software, enabling the development of more resilient and autonomous unmanned systems.
The Shadox drone is equipped with a self-stabilization system, meaning the operator does not need specialized FPV piloting skills. This simplifies the use of the drone and allows military personnel to be trained more quickly to operate the system.
Jonas Malmgren, CEO of Front Ventures, said that Black Forest Systems represents a new generation of unmanned systems developed specifically for infantry and special forces. The key features of such systems are autonomy, ease of use, and the ability to be rapidly deployed in combat conditions.
Black Forest Systems was founded in 2024 and specializes in the development of unmanned systems tailored to the needs of infantry and designed with real combat conditions in mind.
As of early 2025, the company’s team consisted of 15 specialists. Among them are engineers with experience at various technology companies, including Ring (Amazon’s R&D division in Ukraine), as well as microprocessor manufacturers Mindspeed, Freescale, and NXP.
Earlier, in February 2025, Black Forest Systems had already raised investment from the Finnish-Ukrainian fund Double Tap Investments. The amount of that round was not disclosed, although it is known that the fund’s average investment size typically ranges from $100,000 to $300,000.
Before attracting external financing, the team had been developing the project using approximately $100,000 of its own funds.
Investor Front Ventures is a Swedish company that began actively investing in defense projects in the summer of 2025.
The second investor, Hede Capital Partners AB, is a Swedish investment company founded in 2024 that is actively investing in Ukrainian DefenceTech startups.
