| Across 11 disclosed deals, Open Cosmos led with €300M. 9 companies are new to the map, alongside 38 investors — for the founders raising and the investors deploying. |
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This fortnight · 7 Sept – 22 Sept €585m are flowing into European defense-tech |
Across 11 disclosed deals, Open Cosmos led with €300M. 9 companies are new to the map, alongside 38 investors — for the founders raising and the investors deploying. |
| Watch this fortnight light up on the map → |
Deal of the fortnight |
Open Cosmos — €300M Oxford-based Open Cosmos raised €300M from eighteen named investors led by Lightrock — among them the UK's National Security Strategic Investment Fund, Trill Impact and Endeavor Catalyst Fund — plus two undisclosed pension funds. |
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Rounds, funds & grants |
United Kingdom |
Open Cosmos raises €300M led by Lightrock to scale satellite manufacturing Oxford-based Open Cosmos raised €300M from eighteen named investors led by Lightrock — among them the UK's National Security Strategic Investment Fund, Trill Impact and Endeavor Catalyst Fund — plus two undisclosed pension funds. It builds one satellite a day across four European factories; the round scales that capacity and its ConnectedCosmos, OpenConstellation and DataCosmos services. No valuation was disclosed. Investors Lightrock · ETF Partners · Entrepreneurs First · Institut Català de Finances · A&G Global Investors · Trill Impact · Phoenix Court · National Security Strategic Investment Fund · Convex Group · Santander Alternative Investments · Sankara · Ireon Ventures · Sustainable Forward Capital · Endeavor Catalyst Fund · Iberis Capital · Shilling VC · Amena Ventures · Claret Capital Partners |
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CloudNC raises €17.2 million with Lockheed Martin's venture arm for AI machining London-based CloudNC closed €17.2 million ($20 million) led by Nimble Ventures, with LM Ventures, Lockheed Martin's venture fund, taking part. Lockheed Martin is also a customer, and the company is pursuing FedRAMP certification so defence contractors and US government agencies can run its CAM Assist software on sensitive manufacturing work. Investors Nimble Ventures · Calculus Venture Capital · Entrepreneur First · LM Ventures |
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Pan-European |
Bulgarian satellite manufacturer EnduroSat raises €178M, achieves unicorn status EnduroSat, the Bulgarian satellite manufacturer, raised €178 million ($205 million) co-led by Riot Ventures and Atreides Management at a valuation above $1 billion. It builds standardised buses for commercial and governmental constellation operators, and its Sofia site — recognised by the national government as a priority investment project — anchors what the source calls the European Union's largest space and defence hub. Investors Riot Ventures · Atreides Management · European Innovation Council Fund · Google Ventures · Founders Fund · House Capital · Lux Capital · Omnes Capital · Giant Ventures · Emphatic Capital · Endeavor Catalyst Fund |
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Finnish defence accelerator 17Tech names ten backed startups 17Tech, a defence accelerator running between Helsinki and Kyiv, lists ten backed startups across drones, counter-UAS, uncrewed ground vehicles and guided munitions. Stated terms are €20,000–60,000 per startup for 6% equity; per-company amounts are not disclosed. We track nine — the tenth, ARLO, is US-based and out of scope. Its 2/26 cohort adds sixteen more, not yet on the map: each is checked for a European seat first. |
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Benelux |
Fortaegis raises $50M Series A to put security into the silicon itself Amsterdam-based Fortaegis Technologies raised $50 million in an oversubscribed Series A led by Serendipity Capital, to move its Secure Compute architecture into mass production. The technology derives cryptographic keys from the physical variations that make each chip unique, putting device identity in hardware rather than a software layer. First products use FPGAs; the company expects to build them in the thousands from mid-2027 and is developing ASICs for higher volumes. It is joining NATO's DiBaX programme this year. No valuation was disclosed. Investors Serendipity Capital |
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France |
Arlequin AI raises €28 million to build European alternative to Palantir Arlequin AI, a Paris-based AI startup founded by political scientist Hugo Micheron and former CNRS engineer Antoine Jardin, raised a €28 million Series A co-led by Redalpine and OTB Ventures, with Bpifrance's Fonds Innovation Défense, returning backers Vsquared Ventures and 10x Founders, and Xavier Niel — over a year after a €4.4 million seed round. Investors Redalpine · OTB Ventures · Fonds Innovation Défense · Vsquared Ventures · 10x Founders · Xavier Niel |
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Germany |
German drone defense startup Ground A raises €9.1 million in pre-seed round Ground A, a German defense-tech company developing laser-based anti-drone systems, closed a €9.1 million pre-seed round in June 2026 led by Vsquared Ventures, with Quantum Systems among the backers, having completed prototype development of its GA 1000 system. Investors Vsquared Ventures · Quantum Systems · GRIF · Robin Capital · ABACON · Leblon Capital · OVNI Capital |
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Nordics |
NATO Innovation Fund leads €6 million Series A in Icelandic grid-monitoring firm Laki Power NATO Innovation Fund led a €6 million Series A round in Laki Power, an Icelandic company focused on grid monitoring, communications security and resilience, with existing shareholder ReykVC participating. Investors NATO Innovation Fund · ReykVC |
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Swedish drone detection startup Freya closes €533k funding round Freya Industries, a Swedish developer of affordable security and defence sensors, raised €533k from multiple investors including Foundry Ventures, Longswan Ventures, and Propel Capital to scale operations and expand across Europe. Investors Foundry Ventures · Longswan Ventures · Propel Capital · Saminvest · Schyssta Änglar · Sting |
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Ukraine |
Scandinavian investors Hede Capital and Skylen back Ukrainian interceptor maker Vluchnyk Vluchnyk, the Ukrainian maker of the Zorelit interceptor drone, took equity investment in 2025 from Swedish firm Hede Capital and Danish platform Skylen. Neither discloses the amount; Skylen says its stake is a minority one 'big enough to matter'. The company also received grants that year from BRAVE1 and Lviv City Council — the YouControl database puts the council's at UAH 2.5m, a figure the council has not published itself. Investors Hede Capital · Skylen · BRAVE1 · Lviv City Council |
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Acquisitions |
Swarmer agrees to acquire Ukrainian UGV maker Ratel Robotics for up to $224M Swarmer has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Ratel Robotics, a Kyiv-based maker of uncrewed ground vehicles for battlefield logistics, casualty evacuation, reconnaissance and demining. The consideration is cash and stock worth up to $224 million if all earnout milestones are met, with no guaranteed minimum disclosed. The deal is not yet closed — it still needs regulatory and shareholder approvals. |
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New on the map |
Companies Laki PowerEnduroSatFortaegis TechnologiesFreya IndustriesOpen CosmosVluchnykRatel RoboticsCloudNCGround AInvestors ReykVCRiot VenturesAtreides ManagementGoogle VenturesHouse CapitalGiant VenturesEmphatic CapitalEndeavor Catalyst Fund17TechSerendipity CapitalLongswan VenturesPropel Capital+26 more → |
Capabilities this fortnight |
Space drew the most capital this fortnight, ahead of Electronic warfare & secure comms and AI & data. |
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| Electronic warfare & secure comms — €46m · 1 deal | |
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| AI & data — €45m · 2 deals | |
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| Air & missile defense / C-UAS — €10m · 3 deals | |
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| Resilience & logistics — €6m · 1 deal | |
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| Autonomy & uncrewed systems — — · 2 deals | |
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Defense Valley take |
€585m — seven times the last fortnight, and two rounds are four fifths of it. Open Cosmos (€300M) and EnduroSat (€178M) are not satellite operators; they are satellite factories. Strip them out and the other nine deals come to €107m between them; the counter-drone layer that dominated the last edition raised €10m. The big cheques bought industrial capacity, not effectors — production lines, standardised parts, contracts that repeat. Interceptor makers still raise single-digit millions because their only buyer is a procurement office. If that is you, the lesson of this fortnight is not raise more; it is find the second customer. — Lorenz, Defense Valley |
Where to be |
• Innovationstreiber KI & Unbemannte Systeme — 21 Sept, Dobbin-Linstow details ↗• Estonian Defence Week 2026 — 21 Sept, Tallinn details ↗• EURO DEFENCE EXPO (EUDEX) 2026 — 22 Sept, Essen details ↗• Forsvarskonferansen 2026 — 22 Sept, Stjørdal details ↗ |
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