The Ukrainian war served as a morning call in Europe, and defense technology came from a category where most European VCs did not affect one of the best investment areas within Deep Tech.
Such shifts are captured in the latest report of Dealroom on Europe’s defense, Resilience and Security, and NIF (NAF), with NATO Innovation Fund (NIF), a multi -state initiative that provides direct investment and sponsorship funds in this space. It has been announced.
NIF’s portfolio includes new companies such as Portuguese -based dual -usable drone company Tekever and raised $ 74 million in Series B in November. As a total, DSR startups secured $ 5.2 billion in venture capital last year, 24%compared to 2023, almost five times higher than in 2019.
Despite the surge, the US defense technology company Anduril has only $ 5.2 billion in capital, which is known to be trying to raise only by itself. However, according to Deal Room, 10%of all European VC funds are at an all -time high and 2.5 times more than the last two years.
The founder and CEO of Yoram Wijngaarde said in a statement that “appetite for investing in defense, security and elasticity startups cannot be recognized for a few years.” “This follows a continuous trend to meet capital and innovation through deep technology to meet Europe’s core strategic demands.”
Two things overlapped as DSR occupied one third of all in -depth technology venture funds in Europe. This is because DSR is wider than defense technology, with the recognition that supply chain, quantum technology and energy can be equally important to sovereignty in this region.
This means that a wider range of startups now belong to the DSR pipeline. In particular, if the defense budget rises, the idea of selling double -use technology in Europe has become less difficult. The NIF itself also hopes to help the wire. Recently, he appointed the British Army Veteran John Ridge as the best adoptees.
Except for fragmentation and slow adoption, VC appetite has been an obstacle for a long time, but this is changing. The injury of new companies used has contributed to this evolution. It is easier for the public VC to accept this sector within the mission, which often prevents investments in weapons and pure defense technologies.
Pure Defense Tech takes up a small sub -set of total funds, but this is also increasing. The previous trading office reported $ 1 billion in 2024, five times since 2018. On the contrary, a wider range of European VCs are currently investing adjacent to Defect Tech, and more than 850 investors participate in at least one DSR transaction. According to the report, Europe.
This growth is particularly impressive in Germany. Munich and Berlin were the main hubs, the top of Europe in the 2024 DSR funding, followed by British and France. Headquartered in Germany, AI Defense Tech Rising Star Helsing raised about $ 447 million in series C led by General Catalyst last year.
Nevertheless, this adaptation takes time. Defen Quality Facility (Def), a 175 million euros fund ($ 185 million), which was launched by the European Commission and the European Investment Fund (EIF) in January 2024, is the first European Investment Bank (EIF’s EIF ‘S Investment will be announced.
However, it is not one of all of the future tasks, as confirmed by the recent defense hacker tone across Europe. Wijngaarde said, “Despite the recent growth, defense, security and elasticity technology, it remains a relatively early sector, but the data shows the active pipeline of the early stage of the company to change it.
