German armed drone startup Stark has secured a fresh round of undisclosed funding that reportedly boosts its valuation above €1bn, Manager Magazin reports.
The new valuation was confirmed to Sifted by a person close to the company.
"Stark is worth more than one billion,” they tell Sifted, adding that the company’s valuation is likely to increase further once a new agreement with the German armed forces has been signed.
The fundraising comes as European governments — including Germany’s — expand defence procurement, with planned purchases of strike drones potentially worth hundreds of millions of euros.
According to Sifted sources, Stark will sign a new contract with the German armed forces in the coming weeks, worth €2.4bn.
“It’s a framework agreement. But they have already booked €280m, which they will buy directly this year,” the source says. “The plan is to roll out the equipment to an entire brigade in Lithuania by the end of 2026.”
The startup was founded in 2024 by Florian Seibel, cofounder of German autonomous drone startup Quantum Systems, to build weaponised drones. Seibel has since left the company and former Project A general partner Uwe Horstmann has taken over as CEO.
Prior to this latest unannounced raise, Stark had raised a $62m round in August last year, led by Sequoia Capital, with participation from Thiel Capital, the NATO Innovation Fund, In-Q-Tel, Project A and Döpfner Capital.
That round valued the company at roughly $500m and brought its total disclosed funding to about $100m since its founding.
The company recently announced the opening of a new location in Stockholm, following its expansion to the UK in November last year.
Stark now employs around 450 people and, according to the source, plans to double that number in 2026.
