Helsing

In February 2026 the Bundestag budget committee approves an initial €269M contract for Helsing's HX-2 (alongside a Stark award, €536M combined), with a framework capped at ~€1B per company over seven years — Germany's first large-scale armed-drone procurement, partly to equip its new brigade in Lithuania. In January, Bloomberg reporting on alleged HX-2 flaws and suspended Ukrainian orders was publicly disputed by Helsing.

On July 13, 2026 Helsing formally closed a $1.8B Series E at an ~$18B valuation — Europe's largest defense-startup round — led by Dragoneer with Lightspeed, Iconiq, Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, JPMorganChase, CPP Investments, General Catalyst, Plural and StepStone, saying demand far exceeded the allocation while the company stayed predominantly European-owned (an earlier $1.2B figure had been reported by the FT in May). Japan's JGSDF also signed an initial HX-2 agreement, and at ILA Berlin in June Helsing unveiled the CA-1EA electronic-attack variant (service target 2031) alongside the CA-1KA kinetic variant flying in early 2027.

In February 2025 Helsing announces it will produce 6,000 HX-2 strike drones for Ukraine, on top of 4,000 earlier HF-1 drones funded by Germany. Production runs at its RF-1 Resilience Factory in southern Germany.

In May 2025 Helsing reveals the SG-1 Fathom autonomous underwater glider and Lura, a 'large acoustic model' trained on ocean-sound archives to detect ships and submarines. Swarms of the gliders are pitched as persistent, affordable undersea surveillance.

Between May 28 and June 3, 2025, Helsing's Centaur AI agent takes control of a Gripen E over the Baltic in Saab's 'Project Beyond' — a publicly claimed world first for an AI agent flying a fighter in beyond-visual-range combat scenarios, including trials against a crewed Gripen D.

In June 2025 Helsing raises €600M led by Prima Materia at a ~€12B valuation, becoming Europe's most valuable defense startup. The same month it acquires Bavarian manufacturer Grob Aircraft (~275 employees) to build its own aircraft.

In September 2025 Helsing presents the CA-1 Europa, a roughly four-tonne-class uncrewed combat aircraft developed with Grob, natively flown by the Centaur AI stack. First flight is targeted for 2027 and service entry for 2029.

In October 2025 Helsing acquires Australian AUV specialist Blue Ocean Marine Tech Systems to mass-produce underwater vehicles. On November 19 it signs a €258M, three-year contract with Saab Germany to integrate its Cirra AI into the Arexis electronic-warfare suite for 15 Luftwaffe Eurofighter EK jets; it also opens its first UK factory in Plymouth.

In July 2024 Helsing raises €450M led by General Catalyst with Elad Gil, Accel, Saab, Lightspeed, Plural and Greenoaks, at a ~€4.9B valuation. Funds target NATO's eastern flank and European sovereignty capabilities.

On December 2, 2024 Helsing unveils the HX-2, an electrically propelled X-wing loitering munition with ~100 km range and onboard AI for jamming-resistant terminal guidance. It is designed for low-cost mass production at Helsing's 'Resilience Factories'.

In September 2023 Helsing raises a €209M Series B led by General Catalyst, with Saab taking a €75M strategic stake (~5%). The Saab alliance embeds Helsing's AI into Gripen and Eurofighter programs and later spawns the Centaur flight trials.

Torsten Reil, Gundbert Scherf and Niklas Köhler found Helsing to build AI software for European defense and democracies. In November 2021, Daniel Ek's Prima Materia leads a €100M round, triggering the first Spotify artist boycotts.