Drone Economy Fund I, L.P. — A Drone-First Venture Fund

01 — The Moment

Drones are the
defining security
technology of this decade

Ukraine demonstrated at industrial scale that aerial drones under $1,000 per unit can reshape battlefield economics. In September 2025, Russian drones crossed into Polish airspace — NATO invoked Article 4 for the first time due to a drone incursion. In early 2026, the Department of War and FAA reached agreement on high-energy laser counter-drone operations. The procurement architecture that the Fund's portfolio companies will sell into is being built now, with explicit Congressional and executive support.

$1B+

JCO Annual Budget

Drone Dominance Phase I Vendors

Federal Agencies w/ C-UAS Authority

02 — Investment Thesis

Four Capability Areas
That Form The Stack

The Fund allocates capital across four interlocking areas that together form the stack through which autonomous systems are governed in secure environments.

Detection & Sensor Fusion

Acoustic, radio-frequency, radar, electro-optical, and multi-modal sensors for detecting drones, autonomous vehicles, and unmanned maritime systems. Software that fuses multiple sensor modalities into unified tracks, discriminates hostile from commercial traffic, and delivers actionable data to operators.

Autonomous Platforms

Aerial, ground, and maritime autonomous platforms for inspection, surveillance, logistics, and response. Tethered aerial systems for persistent overwatch, ground robots for perimeter patrol, unmanned maritime vessels for harbor surveillance. Investment criteria emphasize differentiation on operational endurance, payload capability, and autonomy software.

Command, Control & COP

Software integrating detection, identification, authorization, and response across manned and unmanned assets. AI-driven common operating picture platforms, mission management systems, rules-of-engagement automation, and audit and governance tooling. The nervous system of the stack — most likely to produce a platform-scale outcome due to network effects.

Integration, Identity & Access

Enabling autonomous systems to be recognized, authorized, and integrated into the facilities they serve. Identity and credentialing for manned and unmanned entities, gate-to-dock arrival management, airspace coordination for drone delivery and UAM, and governance software for evolving federal and state regulation. Where the autonomous economy meets the physical environment.

03 — Market Opportunity

A $45–65 Billion
Total Addressable Market

Three high-stakes sectors — defense installations, energy infrastructure, and data centers — face a growing multi-domain drone challenge that legacy physical security systems were never designed to address.

Sector	TAM (US+CA)	SAM 3-Year	SOM 3-Year
Defense: Counter-UAS, Installation Protection, Autonomous Logistics	$15–20 B	$3–5 B	$300–500 M
Energy: Pipeline, Substation, Nuclear, LNG, Grid Drone Protection	$10–15 B	$2–3 B	$200–400 M
Data Centers: Hyperscale and Colocation Airspace and Perimeter	$8–12 B	$1.5–2.5 B	$150–300 M
Autonomous Logistics & Ground/Maritime Integration	$12–18 B	$2–4 B	$200–400 M
Total	$45–65 B	$8.5–14.5 B	$850M–$1.6B

05 — General Partners

Led by Domain Authority

The Fund is led by three principals whose combined experience is difficult to assemble in any single vehicle — spanning counter-UAS operations, critical infrastructure security, and institutional finance.

COL (Ret.) William H. Edwards

General Partner — Defense & C-UAS

35-year Army veteran, ASIS Triple Crown certification holder (one of ~265 globally), published C-UAS author, current Director of C-UAS Operations at ENSCO. Command experience in Iraq; senior intelligence roles at USSOCOM North and US Army Intelligence Center.

Jeffrey C. Friedman

General Partner — Operator & Sector Thesis

Founder of Building Intelligence, Inc. (built to $35M valuation), creator of SV3 — the first SafetyAct Certified vehicle/vendor/visitor solution deployed at 1,000+ locations. Currently Founder & CEO of Fortifye, Inc., holding DoD IL5 and AFRL/AFWERX SBIR contracts.

Evan Schwartzfarb

Managing Partner & CFO

25+ years finance experience. Former senior strategic client team lead at Barclays Wealth Americas. 5 years on the investment team at American Securities across Funds IV, V, and VI (aggregate capital ~$6.9B). Responsible for fund structure, LP relations, and financial operations.

06 — Fund Structure & Terms

Institutional-Grade
Fund Architecture

Delaware limited partnership with standard institutional-grade terms, European waterfall, and an LPAC structure for conflict oversight.

Structure

Delaware Limited Partnership

Target Size

$30M target / $50M hard cap

Initial Close

$15 Million

Management Fee

2.0% per annum on committed capital

Carried Interest

20% over 8% preferred return

Waterfall

European (Fund-Level)

GP Commitment

Minimum 2% of aggregate commitments

Fund Term

10 years + two 1-year extensions

Investment Period

5 years from Final Close

Stage

Seed, Series A & Selective Minority Growth

Check Size

$2–6M initial; follow-on to reserve

Portfolio Size

8–15 companies

Recycling

Capped at 125% of committed capital

Min. LP Commitment

$1 Million (GP discretion)

Geography

United States and Canada

3.0–4.0×

Net MOIC (Base Case)

22–28%

Net IRR (Base Case)

Preferred Return Hurdle

30–100%

Follow-On Reserve

07 — Portfolio Pipeline

31 Companies Across
Five Segments

The General Partners have preliminary relationships across the four capability areas consistent with deploying the Initial Close portfolio. The first two to three investments are expected to close within 90 days of the Initial Close. Below is a summary of the strategic priority matrix.

Segment 1 — UTM / Low Airspace Management

Company	Est. Valuation	Partner	License	Minority	Acquire
AirMatrix	~$30–80M	HIGH	MED	HIGH	MED
Airspace Link	~$75–150M	HIGH	HIGH	MED	MED
Altitude Angel	~$30–75M	MED	MED	LOW	LOW
OneSky	~$30–80M	HIGH	MED	HIGH	MED
ANRA Technologies	~$25–60M	HIGH	HIGH	HIGH	MED

Segment 2 — Drone-in-a-Box / Perimeter Security

Company	Est. Valuation	Partner	License	Minority	Acquire
Easy Aerial	~$25–60M	HIGH	MED	HIGH	MED
Percepto	~$150–350M	HIGH	MED	MED	MED
Skydio	~$2.2–2.5B	HIGH	LOW	LOW	LOW
Nightingale Security	~$20–60M	HIGH	HIGH	HIGH	HIGH
Censys Technologies	~$30–80M	MED	LOW	MED	MED

Segment 3 — Counter-UAS

Company	Est. Valuation	Partner	License	Minority	Acquire
D-Fend Solutions	~$80–200M	HIGH	MED	MED	MED
Sentrycs	~$30–80M	HIGH	MED	HIGH	MED
DroneShield	~$3.1–3.3B	HIGH	MED	MED	LOW
Fortem Technologies	~$100–300M	MED	MED	MED	MED

Segment 4 — Remote ID / UAS Identity

Company	Est. Valuation	Partner	License	Minority	Acquire
Pierce Aerospace	~$20–60M	HIGH	HIGH	HIGH	HIGH
uAvionix	~$80–200M	HIGH	HIGH	MED	MED
Aerial Armor	~$10–40M	HIGH	HIGH	HIGH	HIGH
Gryphon Sensors	~$30–100M	HIGH	MED	MED	MED

★ SBIR Addendum — Seed / Sub-$20M · Highest Return Potential

Company	Est. Valuation	Partner	License	Minority	Acquire
Guardian RF ★	~$3–8M	HIGH	HIGH	HIGH	HIGH
AeroDefense (AirWarden) ★	~$8–20M	HIGH	HIGH	HIGH	HIGH
Theseus ★	~$15–20M	MED	MED	HIGH	MED
ZeroMark ★	~$3–10M	LOW	LOW	MED	LOW
Neros Technologies ★	~$5–15M	MED	MED	HIGH	MED

★ SBIR Phase III sole-source authority = procurement moat. GREEN = strongly recommended | AMBER = conditional | RED = not recommended

08 — Connect

The Window to Back
These Companies Is Now

The companies that will be unaffordable in eighteen months are accessible today. Contact the General Partners to receive the full Private Placement Memorandum.

Request PPM Visit Fortifye.com

Jeffrey C. Friedman

General Partner

COL (Ret.) William H. Edwards

General Partner

Evan Schwartzfarb

Managing Partner & CFO

Drone EconomyFund I, L.P.

Drones are thedefining securitytechnology of this decade

Four Capability AreasThat Form The Stack

A $45–65 BillionTotal Addressable Market

Led by Domain Authority

Institutional-GradeFund Architecture

31 Companies AcrossFive Segments