| Across 14 disclosed deals, ICEYE led with €1B. 12 companies are new to the map, alongside 18 investors — for the founders raising and the investors deploying. |
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 News | The fortnightly
funding signal |
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This fortnight · 25 Jul – 24 Aug €1.4bn are flowing into European defense-tech |
Across 14 disclosed deals, ICEYE led with €1B. 12 companies are new to the map, alongside 18 investors — for the founders raising and the investors deploying. |
| ⚡ Watch this fortnight light up on the map → |
Deal of the fortnight |
ICEYE — €1B Finnish synthetic-aperture-radar (SAR) satellite company ICEYE raised a €1 billion Series F, co-led by the newly launched Scaleup Europe Fund — a €5 billion European investment vehicle making its first investment. |
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Rounds, funds & grants |
Nordics |
ICEYE raises €1B Series F co-led by the new Scaleup Europe Fund Finnish synthetic-aperture-radar (SAR) satellite company ICEYE raised a €1 billion Series F, co-led by the newly launched Scaleup Europe Fund — a €5 billion European investment vehicle making its first investment. ICEYE's SAR constellation delivers all-weather earth observation and ISR for defence and security customers. Investors Scaleup Europe Fund |
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Monava raises funding for AI acoustic drone detection Monava, a Stockholm- and Helsinki-based defense-tech startup building AI-powered passive acoustic drone detection, closed a funding round led by Gungnir Capital with participation from Foundry Ventures and Hede Capital to scale production as demand for counter-UAS sensing grows. Investors Gungnir Capital · Foundry Ventures · Hede Capital |
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United Kingdom |
Cambridge Aerospace raises $300M Series C at $3.4B valuation for counter-drone interceptors UK defence-tech company Cambridge Aerospace raised a $300 million Series C at a $3.4 billion valuation, led by DFJ Growth with Lux Capital, Accel, Lakestar, Never Lift, Ora Global and Elad Gil. It builds low-cost, high-precision counter-UAS interceptors (Skyhammer, Starhammer) to defend allied airspace against drone and aerial threats — up from a $200M Series B four months earlier. Investors DFJ Growth · Lux Capital · Accel · Lakestar · Never Lift · Ora Global · Elad Gil |
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UK defence venture-builder Gallos raises $50M Gallos Technologies, a UK defence-tech venture builder and investor, raised $50 million to back and build early-stage European defence companies, with Ventura Capital, Aberdeen Investments and Lansdowne Partners. Investors Ventura Capital · Aberdeen Investments · Lansdowne Partners |
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Pan-European |
Agon raises $30 million across pre-seed and seed for military AI simulation platform Berlin and London-based Agon has raised $30 million — a $7M pre-seed led by Lakestar with 201 Ventures, D3 and Unity founder David Helgason, followed by a $23M seed from XYZ, Lux Capital and Northzone — to build a synthetic combat arena for training and testing AI-driven military systems; Lakestar's Klaus Hommels joins the board. Investors Lakestar · 201 Ventures · D3 · David Helgason · XYZ · Lux Capital · Northzone |
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Neuraspace Raises €15.6M in Series B Funding and Public Grant for Space Domain Awareness Portuguese space domain awareness startup Neuraspace announced €15.6 million in combined funding comprising €6 million in Series B venture capital and €9.6 million from Portugal's Recovery and Resilience Plan to expand its AI-powered NeuraspaceDEF platform for defense and civil space operations. Investors Lince Capital · Explorer Investments · Armilar Venture Partners |
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Ukraine |
Inzhur MilTech fund raises over 500 million UAH for Vyriy Industries drone production in first day The Inzhur MilTech fund collected over 500 million UAH (approximately €13.5 million) from 12,239 Ukrainian investors in its first 24 hours to scale production of Vyriy Industries' military drones. Investors Inzhur MilTech |
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Ukraine and NATO launch UNITE–Brave grant competition for counter-drone and air defence tech Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation and NATO launched UNITE–Brave NATO, their first joint grant program: teams pairing a Ukrainian developer with a NATO-country company can receive up to €1 million per team (up to €500,000 per side) for counter-UAS and air-defence solutions, with selection run via Prozorro and testing through TEST in UKRAINE. Investors Brave1 · NATO |
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Italy |
ORiS raises €5M pre-seed for laser wireless power — in orbit and to recharge drones Turin-based ORiS, a Politecnico di Torino spin-off, raised €5 million (a €4.5M pre-seed plus a €0.5M regional grant) led by Earlybird and co-led by Pitchdrive, with Galaxia, Vento and Fondo Piemonte Next. It builds laser-based wireless power transmission for an in-orbit energy grid; its dual-use LOONA prototype — developed in NATO DIANA's accelerator — has wirelessly recharged hovering drones at over 100 metres. Investors Earlybird · Pitchdrive · Galaxia · Vento · Fondo Piemonte Next |
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Spain |
Spanish drone firm FuVeX secures €3M to expand dual-use technology operations FuVeX, a Spanish drone technology company, raised €3 million in an oversubscribed funding round to accelerate commercial expansion and strengthen its dual-use capabilities across Europe. |
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| + 3 more rounds this fortnight on the site → |
Acquisitions |
German military data analytics firm ORCRIST acquires Lancelot Systems ORCRIST Technologies, a specialist in military data fusion and AI analysis, has acquired German startup Lancelot Systems. The combined entity aims to consolidate expertise in software-based data analysis and Ukraine operational experience. |
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New on the map |
Companies Gallos TechnologiesVyriy IndustriesCambridge AerospaceLancelot SystemsFuVeXNeuraspaceMonavaDeutsche Telekom Capital PartnersORiSOTB VenturesAgonMITS CapitalInvestors Aberdeen InvestmentsLansdowne PartnersInzhur MilTechDFJ GrowthNever LiftOra GlobalScaleup Europe FundLince CapitalExplorer InvestmentsArmilar Venture PartnersFoundry VenturesPitchdrive+6 more → |
Capabilities this fortnight |
Sensing, ISR & surveillance drew the most capital this fortnight, ahead of Air & missile defence / C-UAS and AI & data. |
| Sensing, ISR & surveillance — €1.0bn · 1 deal | |
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| Air & missile defence / C-UAS — €277m · 3 deals | |
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| AI & data — €74m · 3 deals | |
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| Autonomy & uncrewed systems — €17m · 2 deals | |
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Defense Valley take |
Two years ago a $50M cheque for a defense venture- builder like Gallos would have been the whole story. This fortnight it barely leads — and that is the real signal. The generalist tourists have mostly gone home; the money that stayed is specialist, and it is buying the unglamorous things Europe under-owned for a decade: low-cost interception (Cambridge Aerospace) and eyes on what moves in orbit (Neuraspace). If you are building in counter-UAS, space awareness or sovereign manufacturing, this is the best room you will ever raise in — don't wait for the tourists to come back. — Lorenz, Defense Valley |
Where to be |
• TechBBQ 2026 — Defence & Dual-Use Summit — 26 Aug, Copenhagen details ↗• European Defense Tech Hackathon — Hamburg — 28 Aug, Hamburg details ↗• Latvian Dual-Use Export Forum 2026 — 6 Sept, Rezekne details ↗• MSPO — International Defence Industry Exhibition — 8 Sept, Kielce details ↗ |
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