Background & Opportunity
Orqa initially served FPV racing and freestyle enthusiasts. These users were willing to pay for low latency, immersive control, and professional-grade equipment, but they still represented a relatively small consumer market. The company’s early flagship product, the FPV.One goggles, demonstrated genuine demand for premium FPV hardware. From June 15 to July 15, 2019, its Kickstarter campaign attracted 606 backers who pledged €364,306, far exceeding the €30,000 goal. Orqa also said the campaign reached its target within two minutes and sold more than 600 pairs of goggles. Kickstarter pledges should not be treated as recognized company revenue, but the campaign nevertheless provided direct validation of product demand and helped Orqa establish a foothold among FPV enthusiasts. Crowdfunding success did not remove the model’s commercial limits. Orqa still depended on a niche customer base, while its product focus remained concentrated on consumer hardware such as goggles. Even when an individual product won market recognition, a narrow category and limited addressable market constrained sustained expansion. At the same time, the Western drone industry’s heavy dependence on Chinese components made it difficult to satisfy defense customers’ requirements for secure supply chains, compliance, and high-volume delivery merely by assembling existing parts. The real opportunity for Orqa was therefore not simply to sell more goggles. It was to determine whether its accumulated FPV expertise could extend into more demanding mission environments and support a broader product system. This change was not a conventional defense pivot designed and announced in advance. According to the founder’s retrospective account, the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022 made the defense value of low-cost drones increasingly visible. Orqa discovered that Ukrainian users were already employing its consumer FPV equipment in combat. Beginning in March 2022, the company supplied equipment to local partners and started modifying its existing technology in response to operational requirements. The more accurate description is therefore a demand-driven business evolution: existing products entered a new use case first, and field feedback then pushed the company to redefine its customers, products, and capability boundaries. That evolution also revealed that goggles alone were insufficient. Mission-grade unmanned systems require radios, video transmission, controllers, avionics components, and drones to work together. In April 2022, Orqa acquired 100% of ImmersionRC. After the transaction, ImmersionRC founder and CEO Tony Cake joined Orqa as CTIO. The purchase price was not disclosed, so the acquisition’s short-term financial return cannot be assessed from public information. Its strategic contribution to the product and technology portfolio was clearer: ImmersionRC added radio, video-transmission, and critical drone-component capabilities, providing a foundation for a more complete technology stack. Orqa subsequently centered its differentiation on European localization and vertical integration. Rather than relying exclusively on external components for final assembly, it kept core design, engineering, and manufacturing in Europe. Orqa’s website, as captured through 2026, states that the company has more than 150 employees and maintains in-house capabilities spanning mechanical engineering, electronics, radio frequency, firmware, optics, and prototyping. It also says that all product-related manufacturing except microdisplays takes place in Osijek, Croatia, with products labeled as made in Europe. This configuration reflects more than a single-product consumer electronics brand. It supports a systems company capable of continuously iterating complete drones, key components, and mission-specific solutions. Orqa consequently redefined its opportunity. Its customers expanded from FPV hobbyists to defense and enterprise organizations. Its portfolio grew from goggles to drones, avionics components, radio systems, and controllers. Its value proposition advanced from the user experience of one hardware product to supply-chain security, rapid iteration, scalable production, and a relatively complete European drone technology stack. Orqa did not abandon the FPV expertise built in the consumer market. It recombined those validated capabilities to enter a B2B market with clearer operational demand and more complex delivery requirements.
Original Problem / Model
The original model centered on consumer FPV goggles for racing and freestyle enthusiasts. Crowdfunding validated demand for a premium product, but the niche customer base, narrow hardware range, and dependence on external components limited both growth and the company’s ability to meet defense delivery requirements.
Turning Point
Beginning in March 2022, Orqa supplied equipment to partners in Ukraine and adapted its technology to combat requirements. That year, it also acquired ImmersionRC, gaining a broader combination of radio, video-transmission, and drone-component capabilities.
Core Decision
Orqa decided to evolve from a goggle brand into a vertically integrated unmanned-systems company serving defense and enterprise customers, while retaining its core design, engineering, and manufacturing operations in Europe.
Execution / Model / Acquisition Changes
Orqa expanded into drones, avionics components, radio systems, goggles, and controllers, serving B2B customers through complete aircraft, components, and unmanned-system solutions. A funding announcement stated that, as of December 2024, the company was producing and selling thousands of combined products each month.
Measurable Results
Revenue increased from approximately €1.5 million in 2021 to €12.2 million in 2024 and approximately €24 million in 2025. Orqa completed a €5.8 million seed round in 2024 and ranked 135th overall and 2nd in aerospace and defense on the 2026 FT1000 list.
Lessons
The case shows that a niche consumer hardware company need not abandon its original technology to unlock growth. Real mission demand, capability-building acquisitions, portfolio expansion, and localized manufacturing can create a stronger delivery model. Crowdfunding pledges, company-reported revenue, and audited financial results should still be treated as distinct metrics.