Helsing, the Munich-based defence technology company, raised $1.8bn in a Series E round at an $18bn valuation, announced on 13 July 2026. The financing drew both new and existing investors.
Named investors included Dragoneer Investment Group, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Disruptive, ICONIQ, the growth equity business of Goldman Sachs Alternatives, JPMorganChase, CPP Investments, General Catalyst, Plural and StepStone, according to Latham & Watkins, which advised Dragoneer on the deal. Helsing did not name a lead investor; The Next Web and Großwald reported that Dragoneer led the round with Lightspeed.
Helsing said investor demand significantly exceeded the available allocation. The round was first reported in May at $1.2bn, and closed half as large again at the same $18bn valuation, according to Großwald.
What Helsing does
Helsing builds software and hardware for European armed forces. Its products include Altra, battlefield software that combines data from drones, radar, satellites and cameras into a real-time picture, with humans taking the key decisions, and the HX-2 strike drone, which it has supplied to Ukraine, The Next Web reported.
The company is also developing the CA-1 Europa, an uncrewed combat aircraft built by its subsidiary Grob Aircraft in southern Germany. According to Trending Topics, first flights of the strike version are planned for early 2027, with initial operating capability in 2029. An electronic-warfare variant, the CA-1EA, was presented in June 2026 and is planned to reach initial operating capability in 2031.
Helsing was founded in 2021 by Gundbert Scherf, Torsten Reil and Niklas Köhler and employs about 900 people across Germany, the UK, France and the Baltic states, according to The Next Web. Spotify's Daniel Ek and former Airbus chief executive Tom Enders co-chair its board, which the company said was unchanged by the round.
What the money is for
Helsing said it will use the capital to build new AI platforms and integrate them into the defence capabilities of partner countries, Trending Topics reported. Großwald said the money would also support the CA-1 Europa programme.
The company said it remains majority European-owned, though it did not give a figure. The Next Web reported that Reil had said in May that Helsing was about 80% European-owned, before the round grew by $500m. Citing Bloomberg, The Next Web also reported that Helsing moved staff from a share-option scheme to a virtual one shortly before the round and adopted a European corporate structure.
The funding so far
In June 2025 Helsing raised €600m (about $700m) at a valuation of around €12bn (about $14bn), according to The Next Web, which described the Series E as the company's third valuation jump in under two years. Returning backers named in coverage include Prima Materia, Accel and Greenoaks.
The round came days after Quantum Systems, another Munich defence company, raised $1.2bn at an $8bn valuation. The Next Web also pointed to Stark Defence's €500m round in June and Anduril's $5bn raise at a $61bn valuation in May.
Company website: helsing.ai