STARK Raises €500 Million for Defence Production and R&D

STARK, delivering the defence systems that Europe and NATO need now, led by Uwe Horstmann and the team, has announced a €500 million financing round to accelerate defence research, development, and manufacturing across Europe. The financing brings together investors from across the defence, technology, and institutional finance sectors, including Sequoia Capital, Founders Fund, the NATO Innovation Fund, Project A, Air Street Capital, 201 Ventures, Advent, and Döpfner Capital.

Scaling Defence Manufacturing and R&D.

The investment will support the expansion of electronic warfare research facilities, increase manufacturing capacity to thousands of systems per month, and accelerate the development of sovereign defence technologies. More than 80% of the capital raised is earmarked for research, development, and production capabilities.

Founded in 2024, STARK secured its first customer contract within nine months of launch. The company now operates across five countries, has established more than 20,000 square metres of production capacity, and recently signed a major framework agreement for its flagship loitering munition program.

The investor syndicate reflects growing confidence in Europe’s ability to build, manufacture, and deploy sovereign defence technologies at scale, while strengthening the region’s strategic and industrial capabilities.

Investor Confidence.

According to Founder and CEO Uwe Horstmann, the challenge for Europe is no longer innovation but scaling the technologies, talent, and manufacturing capacity needed to strengthen the region’s defence industrial base. The new financing is intended to accelerate that effort.

Existing investor Luciana Lixandru of Sequoia Capital highlighted STARK’s rapid execution, noting the company’s progress from concept to deployed systems, major defence programs, and industrial-scale production capacity in less than two years.

Patrick Schneider-Sikorsky of the NATO Innovation Fund emphasized STARK’s ability to move quickly from development to deployment, demonstrating that European-built defence technologies can scale successfully and compete on a global stage.

Product Portfolio.

STARK has developed a portfolio of autonomous systems spanning air, land, sea, electronic warfare, and command-and-control operations.

• Virtus – The company’s flagship long-range loitering munition, designed for precision strike missions with ranges of up to 130 km and operation in contested, GNSS-denied environments.

• Cascade – A tube-launched effector system designed to overwhelm air defenses through coordinated, multi-munition deployments across medium- to long-range distances.

• Gambit – A lightweight, man-portable quadcopter that combines intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities with precision strike functionality.

• Minerva – STARK’s command-and-control (C2) platform, enabling operators to coordinate autonomous systems across multiple domains from a unified interface and accelerate decision-making cycles.

• Vanta – An unmanned surface vessel built for long-range maritime operations, supporting surveillance, fleet integration, and strike missions.

• R-Zero – A compact electronic warfare system designed to detect, track, and counter emerging battlefield threats.