Helsing — Startup Profile
AI to protect our democracies
HQ: Munich, Germany (offices in London, Berlin, Paris) | Founded: 2021 | Employees: 900 (2025) | Stage: Late Stage VC — Series E | Website: https://helsing.ai
About
Helsing is a Munich-based defense technology company founded in March 2021 by Gundbert Scherf (ex-McKinsey partner & German MoD special advisor, co-CEO), Torsten Reil (ex-NaturalMotion founder, co-CEO) and Niklas Köhler (ex-Helmholtz AI researcher, President & CPO). Motivated by Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and the gap in European military AI, Helsing builds AI software exclusively for NATO-aligned democracies, governed by an ethics framework based on the Democracy Index and human-in-the-loop principles. Initially software-only, Helsing now fields software-defined hardware across air, land, sea and electronic warfare domains.
The company's portfolio spans Altra (recce-strike battlefield AI), HX-2 (12kg, 100km-range, EW-resilient loitering munition), HF-1 (plywood-fuselage mass variant built with Terminal Autonomy for Ukraine), Cirra (AI electronic warfare for Eurofighter ECR), Centaur (reinforcement-learning AI fighter pilot demonstrated on Saab Gripen E in June 2025), SG-1 Fathom (autonomous underwater glider swarm) and CA-1 Europa (3-5 ton UCAV via Grob Aircraft). Helsing partners with Saab, Rheinmetall, Kongsberg, Airbus/FCAS, HENSOLDT and Systematic, operates resilience factories in southern Germany, and has been deployed in Ukraine since 2022 delivering 4,000 HF-1 and 6,000 HX-2 drones under German funding.
The Take
Helsing has become Europe's defense AI decacorn by betting that future deterrence is software-defined: an AI layer that upgrades legacy platforms and fields its own autonomous systems. With a $18B Series E (July 2026, $1.8B led by Dragoneer/Lightspeed/Goldman Sachs) following a €12B Series D (June 2025, €600M led by Prima Materia), ~900 staff, and contracted revenue from the German Bundestag (€269M initial HX-2 order within a €1B+ framework) and FCAS/Eurofighter ECR programs, Helsing is the European counterpart to Anduril. Risks remain on scaling hardware reliability (Bloomberg April 2025 scrutiny, Ukraine HX-2 pause Jan 2026) and defense-procurement cycles, but its sovereign-AI positioning aligns directly with EU ReArm, NATO 3% GDP, and €800B European rearmament demand.
Key Metrics
- Latest Valuation: $18B / €16.5B (July 2026 Series E)
- Last Round: $1.8B Series E (July 13, 2026)
- Previous Valuation: €12B (June 2025 Series D)
- Total Funding: $3.3B (~€3B) over 5 rounds
- Founded: 2021
- Employees: 900 (2025)
- Headquarters: Munich, Germany
- Revenue Signal: ~$103M est. + €269M HX-2 contract
Funding Rounds
- Round: $1.8B (2026-07-13) — Dragoneer Investment Group, Lightspeed Venture Partners
- Round: €600M ($693M) (2025-06-17) — Prima Materia (Daniel Ek)
- Round: €450M (2024-07-11) — General Catalyst
- Round: €209M (2023-09-14) — General Catalyst
- Round: €102.5M (2021-11-15) — Prima Materia
Key People
- Gundbert Scherf
- Torsten Reil
- Niklas Köhler
- Daniel Ek
- Florian Schütz
Key Competitors
- Anduril Industries (US) —
- Quantum Systems (Germany) —
- Palantir Technologies —
- Shield AI (US) —
- Rheinmetall / Airbus Defence / Saab (Primes) —
Timeline Highlights
- 2026-07-13: Series E $1.8B at $18B — Europe's biggest defense round
- 2025-09-25: CA-1 Europa autonomous combat aircraft unveiled via Grob Aircraft
- 2025-06-15: Centaur flies Gripen E — AI fighter pilot demo
- 2025-06-17: Series D €600M at €12B — Europe's defense decacorn
- 2024-09-01: HX-2 unveiled; German framework for 4,000 HX-2 contracted
- 2024-07-11: Series C €450M at €4.95B valuation
- 2023-09-14: Series B €209M led by General Catalyst, Saab joins as strategic investor
- 2023-08-01: Wins FCAS AI backbone contract
- 2023-06-01: Selected for Eurofighter ECR electronic warfare upgrade with Saab
- 2021-11-15: Series A €102.5M led by Prima Materia (Daniel Ek)
- 2021-03-01: Helsing founded in Munich by Scherf, Reil & Köhler
Recent News
- Helsing raises $1.8B at $18B — Europe's biggest defense startup round (2026-07-13)
- Helsing raises €600M at €12B valuation led by Spotify's Daniel Ek (2025-06-17)
- Helsing under scrutiny over overpriced drones and glitchy software (2025-04-15)
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