Fastest-growing startups

September 29, 2025

Europe’s fastest-growing defence startup teams in 2025

Defence startups, fueled by VC hype and money, are rapidly growing their headcounts

Anne Sraders

4 min read

VCs have funnelled hundreds of millions of euros into European defence startups in the last year. That money is going, in part, to growing teams; some startups like German weaponised drones maker Stark have seen headcount grow an astronomical 3,900% since 2024.

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Anne Sraders

Anne Sraders is a senior reporter at Sifted, based in Berlin. She covers the venture capital industry and deeptech startups, including robotics, spacetech and defence tech. She also writes Sifted's weekly VC newsletter Up Round. Follow her on X and LinkedIn

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