German defense AI company Helsing closed an oversubscribed $1.8 billion Series E funding round at an $18 billion valuation, marking Europe’s largest-ever defense-startup raise. New and existing investors including JPMorgan Chase, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Dragoneer Investment Group and Iconiq participated. Founded in 2021, Helsing builds AI software and autonomous systems, including the HX-2 strike drone and Altra battlefield-operations software, that fuse sensor data from drones, radar, satellites and cameras for military decision-making. The company also announced plans to open its first U.S. manufacturing site in West Virginia to produce more than 2,000 HX-2 drones per month.
