German autonomous drones unicorn Quantum Systems said it acquired Munich-based driverless truck startup Fernride on Wednesday. The company acquired 100% of Fernride to build out its land division following the startup’s move into defence applications; terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Fernride, founded in 2019 as a spin-off from The Technical University of Munich, started out developing autonomous trucking solutions for logistics hubs, updating existing truck fleets with sensors, cameras and software to be able to be remotely-assisted by humans.
The startup was backed by investors including Helantic, Thomas Müller, the former CEO of defence and aerospace electronics company Hensoldt, DTCF and 10X Founders.
Fernride cofounder and CEO Hendrik Kramer teased a potential shift to defence applications to Sifted in late 2024, and the startup raised an €18m extension round in September this year to build out that defence use case. It raised €75m in total.
“One sector that is often overlooked in defence is logistics. Everyone speaks about drones in the air or huge systems like fighter jets or battle tanks, but we’re excited about building the backbone and infrastructure for all of that,” Kramer told Sifted in September. “Nothing works when you don’t have logistics supplying ammunition, food or water to the front line.”
Quantum Systems cofounder and co-CEO Florian Seibel said his startup won’t abandon Fernride’s commercial uses, however: “We are committed to make the commercial part of your vision — remote trucking/port operations — come true.”
The German drone unicorn has become one of Europe's top acquirers this year, illustrating a trend of more defence startups growing via acquisition to keep ahead of rivals. In 2025 Quantum Systems also acquired EFT Mobility, AirRobot and Nordic Unmanned.
