Daniel Ek-backed defense tech Helsing to raise $1.2B at $18B valuation - BERITAJA

In Brief

Five-year-old European subject drone startup Helsing is reportedly adjacent to raising a caller $1.2 cardinal information astatine about an $18 cardinal valuation. The information is expected to beryllium led by Dragoneer and co-led by existing Helsing investor Lightspeed, the Financial Times reported.

Helsing past raised conscionable nether a twelvemonth ago, in June 2025, successful a woody that was led by billionaire Spotify laminitis Daniel Ek. That was a €600 cardinal finance astatine an estimated €12 cardinal valuation ($14 cardinal USD). So this caller information is simply a step-up.

While Helsing isn’t the only European unicorn defense tech, it is by acold the 1 that investors deem the about valuable. For instance, German drone shaper Quantum Systems raised €180 cardinal successful November, which weighted it astatine much than €3 billion. And a twelvemonth ago, Lisbon-headquartered Tekever raised £400 cardinal astatine a valuation supra £1 billion. Amid Russia’s ongoing warfare successful Ukraine, the proving crushed for caller technologies, autonomous defense startups person go a basking area for VCs.

Helsing, Dragoneer, and Lightspeed could not beryllium instantly reached for comment.

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