Helsinki secures additional EUR 600 million in financial backing for development projects
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Euro-tech powerhouse Helsing, renowned for AI wizardry, bags another €600 million from investors
Helsing, the AI wonder kid in the defense tech realm, isnabetly maxing out its war chest with a mammoth €600 million Series D funding round. This new injection of dough brings their total investors' treasure to a whopping €1.37 billion since their inception.
This dynamic company's work doesn't stop at just one project—they're juggling multiple military defense domains with their software and hardware aspirations at the fore.
Take a gander at their HX-2 kamikaze drone, already finding favor with Ukrainian forces and soon to be battle-tested by the German military. But that's not all—they've also unveiled an underwater surveillance system and an AI that can deftly manage a combat aircraft amidst high-stress, complex air combat scenarios.
This grand funding round was headed by Prima Materia, alongside existing champs Lightspeed Ventures, Accel, Plural, General Catalyst, and SAAB, with additional participation from BDT & MSD Partners. Helsing's grand poobah, Daniel Ek from Prima Materia and chairman of Helsing, dropped this gem: "Old World Europe is beefing up its defense capabilities to face the shifting geopolitical landscape. That makes investments in smart tech crucial for ensuring strategic self-reliance and readiness."
The Deets:
Helsing's HX-2 kamikaze drone, designed for surgical strikes, is out in the wild with several European armies, including Ukraine's troops [1][4]. The drone taps Helsing's AI smarts to autonomously locate, track, and neutralize targets, beefing up battlefield efficiency and slashing operator workload.
In the spring of 2025, Helsing revealed Lura, a super AI for persistent underwater snooping, employing a whopper acoustic model to zero in on and classify the sounds of ships and subs with incredible precision and pace—apparently 10 times more sensitive and 40 times swifter than human operators in certain situations. It's all integrated with the SG-1 Fathom, a coolly affordable, autonomous underwater glider, about 1.95 meters long, 28 centimeters in diameter, weighing 60 kilograms, and able to cruise for a monumental three months [2].
Helsing is in cahoots with a bunch of industry partners (Blue Ocean Marine Tech Systems, Ocean Infinity, and Qinetiq) to crank out these bad boys for near-term real-life usage [2][3].
Helsing is widely expanding into piloting both manned and unmanned aircraft. In June 2025, they successfully showed off their self-driving system navigating a Saab fighter jet [1]. They're also collaborating with Grob Aerospace to mix their AI mojo with Grob’s planes to create AI-powered surveillance and combat aircraft for enhanced real-time decision-making [4].
The Skinny:
| System/Platform | Description | Current Status ||-----------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------|| HX-2 Kamikaze Drone | Autonomous strike drone, AI-driven targeting and engagement | In action with European militaries [1][4] || Lura (SG-1 Fathom) | AI-driven underwater surveillance, autonomous gliders, mass-producible | Unveiled in May 2025, deployment planned || AI for Combat Aircraft | AI wizardry for fighter/reconnaissance jet piloting and decision-making | Successful Saab fighter pilot demo, Grob alliance in progress [1][4] |
Helsing's aggressive moves in the AI-driven defense sector secure its position as a leading European defense tech powerhouse.
In light of Helsing's substantial €600 million Series D funding, the company is poised to invest in advanced technologies such as artificial-intelligence and finance, further strengthening their influence in the defense sector. With this funding, Helsing will expansively explore investing in various domains, including AI-powered combat aircraft (financing a collaboration with Grob Aerospace) and underwater surveillance systems featuring Lura and the SG-1 Fathom (fueling the mass production of autonomous gliders).
