SASKATOON, Sask. — Recent news of a major infusion of funds into drone manufacturer Draganfly Inc. is creating a lot of chatter.
Draganfly, a drone manufacturer headquartered in Saskatoon, announced last week a US$10 million strategic investment by Unusual Machines Inc., as well as a leading U.S. investment fund. The two entities are putting in US$5 million each.
In a news release, the company describes this as a strategic investment that "comes during a period of accelerating commercial and defence activity for Draganfly across both the United States and Canada." Draganfly had recently announced it had been awarded a five-year contract to supply Low-Cost Tactical Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Uncrewed Aircraft Systems to the Canadian Armed Forces.
But eyebrows have been raised about the investment, particularly by Unusual Machines, because of that company's links to Donald Trump Jr., who is an investor in Unusual Machines and a member of its advisory board.
The link to Trump was raised in a podcast by Large Man Abroad and then picked up by former NDP MP Charlie Angus. He pointed to the podcast and called on people to contact Defence Minister David McGuinty to "make it clear that we are not willing to cut the Trump crime family in on the defence of our border."
Angus noted that Draganfly has "promoted itself as a Saskatoon success story, but that was a long time ago," pointing to the company having news releases and business reports coming from Tampa, Fla. He said the board of the company includes Christopher Miller, who served as acting U.S. defence secretary under Trump, and Thomas Modly, who served as acting secretary of the navy under Trump.
"No one has threatened our sovereignty like the Trump regime. In what possible world would we consider giving over drone contracts to the Trump crime family or an unnamed group of investors? How is it possible to pretend that a company run out of Tampa, stacked with Trump allies, could even pretend to meet the government’s promised commitment to create a Canadian supply chain? This is an issue of national security and sovereignty. Would we invite Vladimir Putin and Russian investors to buy into the defence supply chain? It is a completely unacceptable situation."
Draganfly has said no board seats or special rights are attached to the investment from Unusual Machines.
Draganfly reported in its news release that the investment by the two entities is a registered direct offering to purchase 1,869,159 common shares of the company at a price of US$5.35, for gross proceeds of approximately US$10 million, before deducting placement agent discounts and offering expenses.
Draganfly states it intends to use the net proceeds to "accelerate the development of advanced strategic capabilities and to fund general working capital in meeting demand for its products in the rapidly maturing U.S. and international markets."
“We are seeing the convergence of customer adoption, government procurement, domestic manufacturing, defence autonomy and strategic industry participation,” said Cameron Chell, CEO and chairman of Draganfly, in a statement.
“This strategic investment from Unusual Machines and a leading U.S. Investment Fund is about positioning, not size. It is about aligning capabilities that can best serve the industries’ requirements at scale domestically and abroad.”
“America and its allies are entering a period in which the ability to manufacture drones, components and autonomous systems at scale is becoming a strategic capability,” said Dr. Allan Evans, CEO of Unusual Machines, in a statement. “This investment into Draganfly allows us to support their production growth and deepen our supplier relationships.”
This week, Draganfly Inc. announced that president and CEO Chell participated in the 2026 Raymond James Aerospace, Defense & Government Services Conference at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. Chell participated in the panel “See First, Act First: Sensing the Modern Battlespace,” with the company stating in a news release that the discussion focused on the evolving sensor-to-decision chain in modern warfare, including the use of artificial intelligence in threat detection and classification, distributed sensing, electronic warfare, command-and-control integration and the role of human judgment within increasingly autonomous systems.
“Modern defence environments are creating an urgent requirement for systems that can sense, interpret and respond faster while remaining adaptable at the edge,” said Chell in a statement prior to the conference. “We look forward to contributing to the discussion around how unmanned systems, sensors, AI and integrated technologies are changing the way operators build situational awareness and make mission-critical decisions.”
Draganfly also stated that its representatives were participating in meetings at the conference with the investment and defence communities as the company continued to advance its position within the North American defence and unmanned systems market.
