Spotify’s Daniel Ek leads $694 million funding in protection startup Helsing

European protection era startup Helsing on Tuesday stated that it is raised 600 million euros ($693.6 million) in a bumper new spherical of investment.

The funding used to be led through Prima Materia, the mission capital company based through Spotify CEO Daniel Ek and through Shakil Khan, an early investor in the preferred song streaming app. Ek may be chairman of Helsing.

Existing buyers Lightspeed Venture Partners, Accel, Plural, General Catalyst and Saab additionally put cash in, along new buyers BDT & MSD Partners.

Defense and the era in the back of it have turn into a scorching house for buyers in recent times, amid primary world conflicts, together with the Ukraine battle to Israel-Gaza. Last week noticed an additional escalation of battle within the Middle East as Israel introduced a chain of airstrikes in opposition to Iran.

In 2024, mission investment in Europe’s protection, safety and resilience sector reached an all-time top of $5.2 billion, in keeping with a contemporary document from the NATO Innovation Fund. The sector grew 30% previously two years, outperforming the wider VC marketplace, which noticed a 45% decline over the similar length.

Founded in 2021, Helsing sells instrument that makes use of synthetic intelligence era to investigate massive quantities of sensor and guns gadget information from the battlefield to tell army choices in actual time. Last yr, the startup additionally started production its personal line of army drones, known as HX-2.

Helsing, which operates within the U.Okay., Germany and France, stated it could use the recent money to spend money on Europe’s “technological sovereignty” — which refers to makes an attempt to onshore the improvement and manufacturing of important applied sciences, akin to AI.

“As Europe abruptly strengthens its defence features based on evolving geopolitical demanding situations, there may be an pressing want for investments in complex applied sciences that be sure its strategic autonomy and safety readiness,” Ek said in a statement out Tuesday.

Helsing did not disclose its new valuation following the latest financing round, which is subject to “sure approvals,” according to a statement. The firm was previously valued at around 5 billion euros in a 450 million euro funding round led by General Catalyst last year.