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Best Drone Companies to Invest In: How to Think About It
Best drone companies to invest in: which drone makers in the HardwareMap index are listed, which are private, and the checks that matter before you act.
by the HardwareMap editors3 min read
From the HardwareMap index, REV 26.09, refreshed 5 Oct 2026
Contents
The best drone companies to invest in depend on your own goals, so this page gives a way to think about it rather than a pick list. The HardwareMap index counts 18 drone companies as of REV 26.09, and 2 of them have listed shares. Ranking rule: listed first, then disclosed capital. The ticker list lives on publicly traded drone companies.
The table is live from the index. The first four rows have listed shares. The rest are private, which is where most drone capital sits.
Three routes to drone exposure
An investor looking at drones has three routes, and they behave differently.
- Listed drone makers. In the index that means ideaForge (NSE: IDEAFORGE), which builds enterprise and defense UAVs in Navi Mumbai, and Exyn Technologies (Nasdaq: EXYN), which builds autonomous aerial robots for mines and other GPS-denied sites. Exyn began trading on 15 May 2026 after an offering of about $19.4 million in gross proceeds (Exyn pricing release). Outside the index, AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV) and Red Cat Holdings (Nasdaq: RCAT, Red Cat IR) are the US-listed drone names most often cited.
- Adjacent listed companies. Joby Aviation (NYSE: JOBY) and Archer Aviation (NYSE: ACHR) build passenger eVTOL aircraft. Archer announced on 10 August 2026 a deal to acquire Boeing's Wisk Aero, Insitu and SkyGrid units, subject to closing conditions; Insitu builds military drones (Archer Q2 2026 release). That makes Archer partly a drone company if the deal closes. Our eVTOL companies note tracks certification status.
- Private companies. Anduril Industries, Shield AI, Helsing, Zipline, Quantum Systems and Skydio hold most of the disclosed capital in the table. None has listed shares as of October 2026.
The private route is the hardest to read from outside. A private company discloses only what it chooses: usually round sizes, investors and selected customer wins. It files no audited accounts, so revenue, margins and backlog are unknown unless the company publishes them. Shares in these companies trade only in private rounds and secondary sales limited to qualified buyers. For most readers, the practical question is which listed company would gain if one of them grew, such as a supplier, a customer or an acquirer.
What to check before naming the best drone companies to invest in
These are the questions that separate a drone business from a drone story. Each can be answered from public filings or the company's own pages.
- Who pays. Defense-focused makers often depend on a few government programs. Read the customer concentration section of the annual report. The military drone companies note covers who sells to defense buyers.
- Where the parts come from. On 22 December 2025 the FCC added foreign-made drones and critical drone components to its Covered List, blocking new equipment authorizations for them (Hogan Lovells summary of the FCC action). Neros in Torrance markets its FPV drones as free of Chinese parts for that reason.
- Where it builds. Executive Order 14307, signed 6 June 2025, directs agencies to expand domestic drone production (EO 14307 on govinfo). Domestic factories are now a selling point, which our drone manufacturing companies note tracks.
- Disclosed money, not valuation. The index records disclosed rounds only. Funding measures investor conviction, not sales.
- Listing size. Exyn's IPO was small. Small listings move on thin volume.
How the index ranks drone companies for this page
The ranking rule is stated so you can apply your own. Listed companies come first because they are the only ones a retail investor can buy and the only ones that file audited accounts. Inside each group, disclosed capital raised orders the names. Where a figure is not public, the table says undisclosed. We do not rank by share price, market value or forecast.
Missing a name? DJI is private and outside the index. Large defense primes build drones, but drones are a small share of their revenue. For robot makers on public markets, see robotics companies to invest in. The full list of drone makers is on drone companies.
The next REV records any new listings and status changes here first.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best drone companies to invest in?
There is no single answer, and this page does not give one. What the index can say is which drone makers have listed shares and which do not. As of REV 26.09, two drone makers in the index are public: ideaForge in India and Exyn Technologies in the United States. Most of the capital in drones sits in private companies that ordinary investors cannot buy directly.
Can I buy shares in Anduril, Shield AI or Skydio?
Not on a public exchange. Anduril Industries, Shield AI and Skydio are private as of October 2026, and their shares change hands only in private rounds and secondary sales open to qualified investors. Their HardwareMap datasheets record disclosed funding and status. If one of them lists, its status changes in the next REV and it moves onto the publicly traded drone companies page.
Are eVTOL stocks the same as drone stocks?
No. Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation build piloted electric aircraft that must pass FAA type certification before carrying paying passengers in the United States. Drone makers face procurement and airspace rules, not passenger certification. The two share motors, batteries and autonomy software, so they appear together in search results, but the risks are different and should be read separately.
Why does supply chain origin matter for drone companies?
Because US rules now reward it. In December 2025 the FCC added foreign-made drones and critical drone components to its Covered List, which blocks new equipment authorizations for them. A June 2025 executive order directed agencies to expand domestic drone production. Makers that can show non-Chinese parts, such as Neros in the index, market that fact to government buyers.
How do I check a drone stock ticker?
Use the company's investor relations page or the exchange listing, not a quote aggregator. Press releases state the exchange and symbol. Tickers change after mergers, so recheck before acting. Tickers named on this page were checked against company or exchange pages in October 2026, and the publicly traded drone companies page keeps the full list with sources.
HardwareMap records which drone companies are listed and which are not. Open any company above for its full datasheet.
The index
All 219 startups, filterable by category, hub, stage and funding.