Munich-based defense AI company Helsing on July 13 announced a $1.8 billion Series E financing at an $18 billion post-money valuation, the largest defense-technology fundraise in European history.
Investors Line Up Behind Europe's Defense AI Leader
The round drew new and existing backers including Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, JPMorgan Chase, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Dragoneer Investment Group, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Disruptive, Iconiq, General Catalyst, Plural and StepStone. Helsing said investor demand "significantly exceeded" the round's available allocation. Existing backers Prima Materia, Accel and Greenoaks remain shareholders, and the company said it stays predominantly European-owned. The board — co-chaired by Spotify founder Daniel Ek and former Airbus CEO Tom Enders — is unchanged.
Cash Flows Into Strike Drones And Sovereign Manufacturing
Founded in 2021, Helsing has grown from a software startup into a full-stack defense OEM in five years. The company's product line spans the HX-2 loitering munition, CA-1 Europa combat aircraft software, Altra reconnaissance stack, SG-1 underwater glider paired with the LURA acoustic AI system, and its Cirra electronic warfare payloads. In the last month alone, Helsing announced a $50 million HX-2 "Resilience Factory" in West Virginia — its first U.S. plant — and appointed Ukrainian sport-and-defense figure Andriy Shevchenko as managing director for Ukraine.
An $18 Billion European Rival To Anduril
The valuation cements Helsing as Europe's most valuable pure-play defense startup, comfortably ahead of German drone maker Quantum Systems, which last month closed a $1.2B Series D at $8B. It also raises the stakes for U.S. peer Anduril and puts Helsing in the same tier as European defense AI player Mistral in scale ambitions. Fresh capital will accelerate integration of Helsing's AI platforms into NATO partner nations' defense stacks and expand Resilience Factory production — a strategic priority as the war in Ukraine continues to shape European procurement. Investors are betting that autonomous, software-defined weapons systems become the default for Western militaries this decade. Related coverage: West Virginia strike-drone factory and Helsing's CA-1EA electronic-attack drone reveal at ILA Berlin.
Reporting based on coverage from Helsing, Bloomberg, CNBC, Defense News and Tech.eu.