Helsing raises $1.8 billion in Europe’s biggest defense-startup round

PARIS – Germany’s Helsing raised US$1.8 billion in Europe’s biggest-ever funding round for a defense-technology startup, valuing the company at $18 billion and continuing a flurry of mega rounds for the continent’s defense industry.

Munich-based Helsing raised the funding in a Series E funding round, with investor demand “significantly” exceeding the available allocation, the company said in a statement on Monday. The company remains predominantly European-owned after the fund raising, Helsing said.

The latest round raises Helsing’s valuation from a reported €12 billion in June 2025, and follows a $1.2 billion funding round for German defense-tech firm Quantum Systems this month that valued that company at $8 billion. Defense technology has been one of the fastest-growing areas of venture capital funding on the back of rising military budgets worldwide, and in Europe in particular.

“This latest investment will accelerate Helsing’s mission to develop and integrate entirely new AI platforms into the defense capabilities of its growing number of partner nations,” the company said.

Investor demand reflected strong and growing confidence in AI-driven and software-defined defense technology, Helsing said. The company’s valuation puts it among Europe’s most valuable defense companies despite having been founded only in 2021.

The German company’s offer includes the HX-2 strike drone and the Altra AI-enabled battlefield-operations software as well as concepts including the proposed CA-1 autonomous fighter jet, and the firm works with the likes of Rheinmetall, Kongsberg and Saab to implement its AI solutions.

Other mega rounds in Europe this year include the United Kingdom’s Kraken Technology, which makes autonomous vessels, and which raised $175 million this month in a Series B funding round that valued the startup at $1 billion. A mega round is shorthand in the investment industry for a fund raising of $100 million or more.

German unmanned-systems maker Stark raised €500 million in June ($570 million) at a reported valuation of €3.2 billion, while Finland’s ICEYE, whose radar satellites are being ordered by militaries all over Europe , raised €450 million in a Series F round last month. French defense-tech startup Harmattan AI raised $200 million in January in a Series B round led by Dassault Aviation that valued the company at €1.4 billion, creating the country’s first defense unicorn.

Helsing said new and existing investors participated in the funding round, including Lightspeed Venture Partners and General Catalyst. The company’s existing investors include Prima Materia, Accel and Greenoaks.

The company said its board remains unchanged with Daniel Ek and Tom Enders as co-chairmen, members Jeannette zu Fürstenberg and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Transformation Gen. Denis Mercier, and co-founders Gundberg Scherf, Niklas Köhler and Torsten Reil.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——德国的 Helsing 公司在欧洲有史以来规模最大的国防科技初创公司融资轮中筹集了 18 亿美元，公司估值达到 180 亿美元，延续了欧洲国防工业巨额融资热潮。

总部位于慕尼黑的Helsing公司周一在一份声明中表示，该公司在E轮融资中成功筹集资金，投资者需求“显著”超过了可用配额。Helsing还表示，融资后，公司仍将以欧洲股东为主。

最新一轮融资将Helsing的估值从2025年6月公布的120亿欧元提升至80亿美元。此前，德国国防科技公司Quantum Systems本月刚刚完成12亿美元的融资，估值达到80亿美元。在全球军费预算不断增长的背景下，尤其是欧洲军费预算的增长，国防科技已成为风险投资领域增长最快的领域之一。

该公司表示：“这项最新投资将加速赫尔辛公司将其不断增长的合作伙伴国家开发和整合全新人工智能平台到其国防能力中的使命。”

赫尔辛表示，投资者需求反映出他们对人工智能驱动和软件定义国防技术的强劲且不断增长的信心。尽管该公司成立于2021年，但其估值已使其跻身欧洲最有价值的国防公司之列。

这家德国公司提供的产品包括 HX-2 攻击无人机和 Altra 人工智能战场作战软件，以及包括拟议的 CA-1 自主战斗机在内的概念产品。该公司与莱茵金属、康斯伯格和萨博等公司合作，实施其人工智能解决方案。

今年欧洲其他巨额融资案例包括英国自主船舶制造商 Kraken Technology，该公司本月完成 B 轮融资，筹集资金 1.75 亿美元，估值达到 10 亿美元。在投资行业，“巨额融资”通常指融资额达到或超过 1 亿美元的项目。

德国无人系统制造商Stark在6月份融资5亿欧元（约合5.7亿美元），据报道估值达32亿欧元。芬兰的ICEYE公司，其雷达卫星正被欧洲各国军队订购，该公司上个月在F轮融资中筹集了4.5亿欧元。法国国防科技初创公司Harmattan AI在1月份由达索航空领投的B轮融资中筹集了2亿美元，公司估值达14亿欧元，成为法国首家国防独角兽企业。

Helsing表示，新老投资者都参与了此轮融资，包括Lightspeed Venture Partners和General Catalyst。该公司现有投资者包括Prima Materia、Accel和Greenoaks。

该公司表示，其董事会成员保持不变，Daniel Ek 和 Tom Enders 担任联合主席，成员包括 Jeannette zu Fürstenberg 和前北约盟军转型最高司令 Denis Mercier 将军，以及联合创始人 Gundberg Scherf、Niklas Köhler 和 Torsten Reil。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。