Europe has at least 12 defence and dual-use tech unicorns as of 22 October 2026, led by Helsing at $18bn (July 2026), Finland's ICEYE at more than €10bn (June 2026), Quantum Systems at about $8bn (July 2026) and Portugal's Tekever at $6.4bn (September 2026). All 12 latest valuations were set in 2026. Only Helsing's figure comes from the company itself; most of the others are press reports, and we flag which below.
A unicorn here means a privately held European company building defence or dual-use technology with a last reported valuation of at least $1bn or €1bn. We rank by the latest figure, converted roughly to US dollars where needed. Listed groups such as Rheinmetall or Saab are excluded, as are space companies without a clear defence focus.
Europe's most valuable defence tech startups, ranked
| Rank | Company | Country | Latest valuation | Date | Round | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Helsing | Germany | $18bn | 13 Jul 2026 | Series E, $1.8bn | Company figure |
| 2 | ICEYE | Finland | Over €10bn (over $12bn) | 9 Jun 2026 | Series F, €1bn incl. €450m primary | Investor release |
| 3 | Quantum Systems | Germany | About $8bn (about €7bn) | 2 Jul 2026 | Series D, $1.2bn | Reported |
| 4 | Tekever | Portugal | $6.4bn | 23 Sep 2026 | Series D, $580m (first close) | Reported |
| 5 | STARK | Germany | €3.2bn to over €3.5bn | 23 Jun 2026 | Series C, €500m | Disputed |
| 6 | Cambridge Aerospace | United Kingdom | $3.4bn | 10 Aug 2026 | Series C, $300m | Reported |
| 7 | Isar Aerospace | Germany | Over €2bn | Jun 2026 | Series D, €270m | Reported (investor adviser) |
| 8 | Harmattan AI | France | $1.4bn or €1.4bn | 12 Jan 2026 | Series B, $200m | Reported (currency differs) |
| 9 | UFORCE | United Kingdom | Over $1bn | 5 Mar 2026 | Seed, $50m | Reported; $5bn round in talks |
| 10 | EnduroSat | Bulgaria | Over $1bn | 16 Sep 2026 | $205m (€178m) | Confirmed threshold, figure undisclosed |
| 11 | Open Cosmos | United Kingdom | Over $1bn | 14 Sep 2026 | Series C, €300m | Reported |
| 12 | Kraken Technology Group | United Kingdom | $1bn | 9 Jul 2026 | Series B, $175m | Reported |
"Company figure" means the startup published the valuation. "Investor release" means a named investor published it. "Reported" means press citing sources or unattributed figures. Ranks 9 to 12 are all reported at or just above $1bn and cannot be ordered precisely. Trackers disagree on who counts: Dealroom's European defence list (updated 22 October 2026) flags six unicorns (Helsing, Quantum Systems, STARK, UFORCE, Harmattan AI and Kraken) because it excludes space companies and had not flagged Cambridge Aerospace.
The top four: Helsing, ICEYE, Quantum Systems, Tekever
Helsing is the only company on the list that published its own valuation. Its $1.8bn Series E, announced on 13 July 2026, was Europe's largest defence startup round, Defense News reported. Earlier Helsing valuations (about €12bn in 2025) come from press reports; see our Helsing funding history and Helsing IPO guide.
ICEYE, the Finnish radar satellite maker, raised €1bn in a Series F led by General Atlantic: €450m of new money and the rest a secondary sale by existing shareholders. The valuation of more than €10bn comes from investor Qatar Investment Authority's release of 9 June 2026, which also gives 2025 revenue above €250m and a €1.5bn contracted backlog.
Quantum Systems raised $1.2bn at about $8bn, co-led by Blackstone, Noteus, Airbus and Advent, Tech.eu reported. Dealroom expressed the same round as about €7bn. Details in our Quantum Systems valuation article.
Tekever, the Lisbon drone maker, announced a $580m Series D at $6.4bn on 23 September 2026, led by UC Investments with Baillie Gifford, The Next Web reported. The first close covered most of the round, with further closings expected. In May 2025 Tekever had said its valuation passed £1bn.
The middle of the table
STARK's valuation is the most disputed. Bloomberg reported €3.2bn; The Next Web and others reported above €3.5bn after the €500m Series C co-led by Sequoia Capital and Founders Fund, as set out in our STARK analysis. At June 2026 exchange rates, either figure is above Cambridge Aerospace's $3.4bn.
Cambridge Aerospace, maker of the Skyhammer interceptor, is the fastest riser: it was valued at $1.3bn in its $200m Series B in April 2026 and $3.4bn four months later, Resilience Media reported. Isar Aerospace did not publish a valuation for its €270m Series D; the "more than €2bn" figure comes from a Greenberg Traurig release of 16 June 2026 announcing its advice to investors.
Harmattan AI became France's first defence unicorn with a $200m Series B led by Dassault Aviation on 12 January 2026. SiliconANGLE gave the valuation as $1.4bn, while Defense News gave €1.4bn.
The new $1bn club
UFORCE, a London company built around Ukrainian drone makers, raised $50m at more than $1bn in March 2026, led by Lakestar, Shield Capital and Ballistic Ventures, Resilience Media reported. Bloomberg reported on 7 September 2026 that it was in talks to raise about $500m at around $5bn, led by Valor Equity Partners, per The Next Web. We found no confirmation that round has closed, so the table uses the March figure.
EnduroSat, the Bulgarian satellite maker, raised $205m (€178m) co-led by Riot Ventures and Atreides Management; its marketing chief confirmed a valuation above $1bn without giving the figure, The Recursive reported on 16 September 2026. Open Cosmos reached unicorn status with a €300m Series C co-led by Lightrock and ETF Partners, Satnews reported. Kraken Technology Group's $175m Series B, led by DTCP, valued it at $1bn, according to the UK Defence Journal, whose headline says £1bn and body says $1bn.
Reported but not confirmed
Several companies have been reported at unicorn-level prices that we could not confirm as of 22 October 2026:
| Company | Country | Reported figure | Status and source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Destinus | Netherlands | Seeking over €5bn in a €200m pre-IPO round | In talks, Bloomberg, May 2026 |
| UFORCE | United Kingdom | About $5bn on about $500m | In talks, Bloomberg, 7 Sep 2026 |
| Onodrim Industries | Netherlands | Unicorn valuation on about €200m | In talks, Bloomberg, 29 Sep 2026 |
| Auterion | Switzerland and US | Over $1.2bn on $200m | Considered raise, Resilience Media, Feb 2026 |
| Robin Radar | Netherlands | About €2bn | Possible sale by owner Parcom, Reuters, Oct 2026 |
Destinus, which makes the Ruta cruise missile and Hornet interceptor drones, has raised nearly €400m and plans an Amsterdam listing, The Next Web reported, citing Bloomberg. Lux Capital was reported to be in talks to co-lead Onodrim's round, per a Bloomberg report. Auterion, co-headquartered in Munich and Arlington, Virginia, was last confirmed at more than $600m in September 2025; its spokesperson said in February 2026 it was "not fundraising at the moment", Resilience Media reported. Robin Radar is owned by a private equity firm rather than venture-backed; Reuters reported a sale process that could value it at about €2bn, as relayed by Placera on 2 October 2026.
Soonicorns: the next candidates
These companies have raised large early rounds but have no reported valuation near $1bn yet:
- Alta Ares (France): €50m round led by Air Street Capital in June 2026 for X-Lock and Black Bird interceptors, per The Next Web.
- TYTAN Technologies (Germany): €30m Series A co-led by the NATO Innovation Fund, €46m in total, with Ukrainian orders for thousands of METIS interceptors, per Munich Startup.
- ARX Robotics (Germany): €42m raised for ground robots, last round July 2025.
- HyImpulse (Germany): more than €50m Series A extension in September 2026.
- Greenjets (UK): $40m Series A in July 2026 and a UK low-cost interceptor contract.
- Agon (UK): $30m at launch in July 2026 from Lakestar, Lux Capital and Northzone.
For more candidates by country, see our lists of German and UK defence tech startups, or browse the full directory.
What the ranking shows
Three patterns stand out. First, Germany dominates the top: four of the 12 are German, and Helsing, Quantum Systems and STARK together account for about half of the combined value. Second, hardware is back: interceptors (Cambridge Aerospace), drones (Quantum Systems, Tekever, UFORCE), loitering munitions (STARK) and satellites (ICEYE, EnduroSat, Open Cosmos) outnumber pure software companies. Third, 2026 has been the year of the step-up: Cambridge Aerospace went from $1.3bn to $3.4bn in four months, and STARK roughly tripled the €1bn mark it crossed earlier in the year.
Valuations of private companies are negotiated prices for a specific class of shares, often with investor protections attached, and they can differ widely from what a public market would pay. Converted figures depend on the exchange rate used. None of the companies ranked here is listed; they have no stock ticker.
This article is for information only and is not investment advice.
