Berlin-based defence startup Stark has confirmed it has raised €500m to expand research, development and manufacturing capacity across Europe, confirming earlier reporting by Sifted that the company was in talks for a blockbuster funding round.
Sifted previously revealed that Stark was negotiating a raise of up to around $500m, according to two sources with knowledge of the deal, though the final size remained subject to change.
The company said more than 80% of the new capital will be invested directly into R&D and manufacturing, including new electronic warfare research facilities and scaling production to “thousands of systems per month”.
The round includes backing from Sequoia Capital, Founders Fund, the NATO Innovation Fund, Project A, Air Street Capital, 201 Ventures, Advent and Döpfner Capital.
Founded in 2024, Stark has rapidly emerged as one of Europe's fastest-growing defence startups. Sifted previously reported that the company reached unicorn status in an unannounced January funding round valuing it at more than $1bn, after raising $62m last August in a Sequoia-led round.
Stark was founded by Quantum Systems founder Florian Seibel, who has since stepped back from day-to-day operations and remains a founding investor. In October, Project A cofounder Uwe Horstmann took over as CEO.
In recent months, Stark has secured a €268m contract with the German armed forces for its kamikaze drones, expanded into the UK and Sweden, acquired Berlin-based autonomous navigation software startup Pleno and launched new maritime drone systems.
“The challenge facing Europe is no longer whether we can innovate, it's whether we can scale,” Horstmann said in a statement. “This financing is a €500m commitment to Europe’s defence industrial base.”
