{"id":680650,"date":"2025-07-19T18:40:24","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T15:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/germany-snaps-up-90-of-europes-record-defence-tech-funding\/"},"modified":"2025-07-19T18:40:24","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T15:40:24","slug":"germany-snaps-up-90-of-europes-record-defence-tech-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/germany-snaps-up-90-of-europes-record-defence-tech-funding\/","title":{"rendered":"Germany snaps up 90% of Europe\u2019s record defence tech funding"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Funding focus is a new series<\/a> analysing cash flow into the European tech ecosystem. Last week, we looked at the\u00a0<\/span>largest investment rounds in fusion energy this year, and now we\u2019re honing in on Europe\u2019s booming defence tech arena.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Europe\u2019s defence tech startups secured $971mn in funding in the first half of this year, as VCs look to capitalise on the continent\u2019s push to rearm amid heightened geopolitical tensions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Funding in H1 2025 has already shot past the whole of 2024 \u2014 the previous record year \u2014 which saw defence startups raise $605mn, according to Dealroom data. German startups led the charge, raising $881mn \u2014 90% of Europe\u2019s total defence tech investments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Munich-based Helsing took the lion\u2019s share. In June, the startup secured a whopping <\/span>\u20ac600mn ($660mn) in <\/span>Europe\u2019s largest funding round<\/span> of the year s<\/span>o far. The deal, <\/span>led by Spotify CEO Daniel Ek\u2019s VC firm Prima Materia,<\/span> valu<\/span>ed Helsing at \u20ac12bn ($13.2bn), making it<\/span> one of the continent\u2019s most valuable private companies<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Founded in 2021, Helsing<\/span> develops AI software for weapons, vehicles, and military strategy. Its tech has been integrated into battlefield simulations, electronic warfare for fighter jets, and drones in Ukraine.<\/span> The company also recently unveiled plans for a fleet of autonomous<\/span> reconnaissance submarines<\/span> to boost Europe\u2019s maritime defences.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Helsing AI agent Centaur successfully \u201cflew\u201d a Saab Gripen E fighter jet in a test in June. Credit: Saab\/Helsing<\/figcaption>\"\"<\/figure>\n

The year\u2019s second biggest cash injection went to another German company \u2014\u00a0 Quantum Systems, which raised \u20ac160mn ($176mn) at a valuation north of \u20ac1bn ($1.1bn).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Quantum Systems builds electric, AI-powered autonomous surveillance drones that are dual-use, meaning they can serve both military and civil purposes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Defence forces can use the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to spy on enemies and gather intel. The drones can also be used by farmers to inspect their crops, by energy companies to check power lines, and by search and rescue teams to look for survivors.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"QS-drone-startup-dual-use\"
Quantum Systems\u2019s Vector AI drone. Credit: Quantum Systems<\/figcaption>\"QS-drone-startup-dual-use\"<\/figure>\n

The third biggest round also went to a German company: ARX Robotics, <\/span>headquartered near Munich, which bagged \u20ac31mn ($34mn) in April to expand its fleet of<\/span> autonomous land drones<\/span>. The round came <\/span>shortly after ARX announced plans to invest \u00a345mn ($58mn) into a<\/span> new UK factory<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

ARX\u2019s machines drive around on treads and can be fitted with equipment such as radar, mine-sweeping devices, or medical stretchers. The largest carries military payloads weighing up to 500kg \u2014 including injured soldiers \u2014 across the battlefield.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"An
Credit: ARX Robotics<\/figcaption>
An ARX Robotics battlefield robot with four soldiers carrying guns. Credit: ARX Robotics<\/figcaption>\"An<\/figure>\n

Other notable defence tech deals this year include a $20mn round for Britain\u2019s Skyral \u2014 a startup founded by former Prime Minister Tony Blair\u2019s son, Nick. The company is developing military simulation tech for the British Army and NATO. Another German business also got a big funding boost: Swarm Biotactics. The startup raised \u20ac10mn ($11mn) to advance its unusual biorobotic system, which equips live cockroaches with sensors to monitor extreme environments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Swarm Biotactics is developing backpacks for cockroaches that allow you to control them remotely and gather data from hard-to-access locations. Credit: Swarm Biotactics<\/figcaption>\"\"<\/figure>\n

The investments come amid a broader defence tech boom in Europe, with governments turning to technologies like drones, submarines, and AI-based weaponry.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kate Leaman, chief market analyst at online broker AvaTrade,<\/span> previously told TNW<\/span> that military tech companies have \u201chuge potential\u201d for growth \u2014 particularly those with AI-driven solutions.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re already seeing a shake-up in the defence sector, with AI-focused players like Palantir outperforming more traditional defence giants,\u201d Leaman said. \u201cThis suggests that cutting-edge, tech-centric firms could possibly capture a sizeable share of the market.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Funding focus is a new series analysing cash flow into the European tech ecosystem. Last week, we looked at the\u00a0largest investment rounds in fusion energy this year, and now we\u2019re honing in on Europe\u2019s booming defence tech arena.\u00a0 Europe\u2019s defence tech startups secured $971mn in funding in the first half of this year, as VCs…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":680651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw-blurple?filter_last=1&fit=1280%2C640&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn0.tnwcdn.com%2Fwp-content%2Fblogs.dir%2F1%2Ffiles%2F2025%2F05%2FHelsing_lura-AI-submarine-ocean-drone.jpg&signature=4b8df6a97b4d0b6a9cb15bcf0572e07b","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-680650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=680650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/680651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=680650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=680650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=680650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}