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History

A family of entrepreneurs.

In 2022, Groupe Gorgé finalized the simplification of its activities and became Exail Technologies, a world leader in high-tech systems and products operating through its unique subsidiary Exail. Exail was formed by the rapprochement of ECA Group, acquired in 1992, and iXblue, acquired in 2022. The two companies have a rich history of innovation and technological excellence

  • 1936

    Creation of the company Etudes et Constructions Aéronautiques (ECA) by French Engineers Marcel Gianoli and Paul Rozycki

  • 1970

    Creation of the first sub-marine drone for mine disposal, the “PAP” (Poisson Auto-Propulsé) for the French Navy

  • 1974

    First commercial success of the PAP with the Belgian & Dutch navies, reference navies for NATO

  • 1979

    Creation of the first autonomous underwater vehicule for the IFREMER, “the Epaulard”, able to dive to 6 000 m.

  • 1974-2000

    1974-2000: international success of the PAP with 450 vehicles sold to twenty navies around the world

  • 1998

    IPO of Exail Technologies (then named Finuchem) on the secondary market of the Paris stock exchange

  • 2000

    Creation of iXblue by French entrepreneur Hervé Arditty

  • 2003

    Development of the ALISTAR 3000, an innovative deep-sea autonomous drone able to dive to 3000 m deep.

  • 2005

    Raphaël Gorgé joins the Group and is appointed Deputy CEO. He initiates a strategic pivot of the Group toward high-tech sectors. He is appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in 2011.

  • 2007

    Development of new innovating autonomous products: uncrewed surface vehicles and underwater robots.

  • 2014

    The development of the autonomous underwater robot A18 begins. The Group wins the Prix de l’Audace Créatrice (Audacity and Creativity Prize) presented by the French President.

  • 2015

    Delivery of three teleoperated mine countermeasures drone sytems in a 10 million euros program

  • 2019

    Exail Technologies, in tandem with Naval Group, wins a landmark €2 billion contract to supply twelve minesweepers to the Belgian and Dutch navies. Exail’s share of the contract is around €450 million, for supplying twelve drone systems to equip the ships.

  • 2020

    Exail Technologies wins two international tenders for drone systems, representing €20 million each, including the upgrade of Latvia’s minesweepers fleet.

  • 2022

    Acquisition of company iXblue and rapprochement with ECA Group to create a new high-tech champion, Exail. Groupe Gorgé completes the simplification of its activites and change its name to becomes Exail Technologies.

  • 2023-2024

    Acceleration of commercial activity, driven by maritime robotics & navigation. This activity materializes with a +40% increase in order intake in 2024

  • 2025

    Second very large program of several hundreds of million euros won by Exail for mine-hunting systems in February 2025. With this contract, the backlog exceeds the €1 billion mark.