Stark defense tech raises €500M at €3.5B; Berlin drone maker expands after €2.8B Bundeswehr contract

Stark, a Berlin-based loitering-munition and defense AI startup, raised €500 million (approximately $567 million USD) in Series C funding co-led by Sequoia Capital and Peter Thiel's Founders Fund. The round, which closed on June 23, 2026, values the company at more than €3.5 billion, roughly tripling its valuation in just months. The NATO Innovation Fund, Döpfner Capital, Project A, and others participated. Total funding since the company's 2024 founding now stands at approximately €640 million, with more than 80% earmarked for research and manufacturing.

Stark's rapid growth follows a major German military contract win: in February 2026, the company secured a roughly €269 million Bundeswehr contract (awarded alongside Helsing) to supply its Virtus loitering munition to the German armoured brigade in Lithuania. The Virtus can strike targets beyond 130 kilometers with up to 90 minutes of flight time in GNSS-denied environments. Stark also produces Cascade (tube-launched, 100km range) and Gambit (man-portable quadcopter for ISR). Chief Executive Uwe Horstmann said the company is scaling toward 'thousands of systems per month.'

For defense tech investors and practitioners, Stark's valuation trajectory reflects European rearmament momentum and a broader shift toward venture-backed defense innovation. The company demonstrates how startup speed and autonomous systems design can outpace traditional defense primes. However, the open question remains whether two-year-old firms can sustain production quality and reliability at the scale military procurement requires. Helsing, a competitor, is raising near $18B; the market is consolidating rapidly around AI-enabled autonomous systems and strike capabilities across NATO.