Finnish Airships Raise €15M to Protect Europe's Borders

Imagine airships the size of blimps quietly floating above the Arctic Circle, watching over entire countries while running on nothing but hydrogen and clean air.

That's exactly what Kelluu, a Helsinki-based company, has been doing since 2018. The company just raised €15 million in Series A funding led by NATO's Innovation Fund to expand its fleet of autonomous airships that provide 24/7 surveillance across vast stretches of land and sea.

These aren't your grandfather's blimps. Kelluu's hydrogen-powered airships have logged over 50,000 kilometers of flight, including 12-hour missions in temperatures as low as -33°C. They operate where traditional drones can't handle icing or strong winds, and they provide detail that satellites orbiting in space simply can't match.

The technology fills a critical gap in Europe's security infrastructure. Five Kelluu airships operating from a single base can monitor 30,000 square kilometers, an area the size of Belgium. Unlike ground-based radars that sit in one place, or drones that need constant recharging, these airships stay airborne through GPS jamming and extreme weather.

CEO Janne Hietala founded the company in Joensuu, Finland, right at Europe's edge near the Russian border. "We built Kelluu in one of the hardest operating environments outside conflict zones," he explains. The harsh Arctic conditions became the perfect testing ground for technology that needed to work when everything else failed.

In February 2026, Kelluu proved its capabilities during a 10,000-troop NATO exercise in Germany, delivering live video and location data to 13 allied nations in real time. The company has also conducted exercises in Norway and with NATO Maritime Command, earning recognition as one of just 15 members selected from 2,600 applicants for NATO's DIANA programme.

The Ripple Effect

Beyond military applications, Kelluu's airships are protecting civilian life in surprising ways. The same fleet monitoring borders also watches over power grids, detects wildfires before they spread, and helps foresters monitor vast stretches of wilderness. Cities are using the technology to create detailed digital maps for urban planning.

The company is even launching Kelluu AI Labs to develop AI models that understand the physical world better. By combining persistent aerial observation with artificial intelligence, they're creating tools that could revolutionize everything from disaster response to environmental protection.

This marks NATO's first investment in a Finnish company, with additional support from venture firms in Amsterdam, London, and Sweden, plus Finnish state investment company Tesi. The funding will accelerate hiring, expand the fleet, and bring the technology to new markets across Europe.

One fleet, watching over an entire continent while running emission-free—that's innovation worth celebrating.