Venture-capital data compiled by Dealroom points to European defence startups attracting around $10.5 billion in 2026 — a total roughly four times the $2.6 billion that flowed into the sector the previous year — with drone-technology companies drawing a substantial portion of that investor interest.
Figures published Monday in the annual State of Defence Tech report — a joint release from Dealroom and Resilience Media — put European venture funding into defence-oriented startups at $7.4 billion through 20 September, a running total driven in large part by substantial fundraising rounds completed by Helsing and Quantum Systems, both based in Germany. Venture funding flowing into European defence-focused startups reached $1.5 billion through September of the preceding year, according to the 2025 report's baseline figures.
Dealroom figures show that large funding rounds — including Helsing's $1.8 billion Series E in July — accounted for more than 85% of venture capital flowing into European defence startups this year, while the data also recorded the United States' portion of global venture investment dropping to an all-time low of 75%; Dealroom attributed the shift to EU 27 funding having more than doubled within a single year, rather than to any contraction on the American side.
By the end of September, the European Union held a 21% portion of funding directed at defence startups — up from 15% in the previous year, according to available investment data. According to the report, ventures based in Germany have topped every fundraising benchmark within Europe's defence-technology venture capital arena since 2023.
Venture capital flowing into defence startups across NATO member states has reached $27.1 billion through the current year to date — a figure that has already eclipsed the full-year 2025 total of $14.5 billion — with projections pointing toward $38.5 billion by the close of December.
Drones and autonomous systems drew the largest share of venture investment across both the EU and the UK — pulling in 74% and 77% of funding respectively — while the same category attracted a smaller 57% slice of comparable capital in the United States. Dealroom figures compiled through September show unmanned aerial vehicles drawing the largest pool of European investment capital at $4.7 billion, with Earth observation and satellite imagery attracting $1.8 billion, anti-drone solutions and launch vehicles each pulling in $1.2 billion, and maritime robotics gathering $796 million — a landscape that saw funding flow to ventures including Germany's Helsing, Quantum Systems, and Stark, France's Harmattan AI, and Cambridge Aerospace in the United Kingdom.
Venture capital directed at ground robotics — the unmanned vehicle segment — has reached $77.6 million among European players so far this year, putting the sector behind others in the space, based on figures from Dealroom.
Of the European nations tracked this calendar year, Germany drew the largest share of defence venture capital — $3.5 billion in total — while Finland pulled in $1.2 billion, the United Kingdom attracted $932 million, and France accounted for $376 million. Dealroom placed Munich at the top of the European defence technology landscape as of 20 September, noting that venture capital flows into the city had reached $3 billion — a figure that put it ahead of Helsinki, London, Berlin, Cambridge, and Paris; the firm attributed the bulk of that valuation to Helsing and Quantum Systems, two Munich-based companies whose combined worth stood at $25.7 billion.
Dealroom data show that aggregate private investment flowing into NATO-aligned defence startups — a pool that spans private equity, debt, and grant funding alongside venture capital — is on track to climb from $16.9 billion to $42.7 billion, reflecting a broadening of capital sources as the sector expands, while a newer wave of companies is taking shape around ground robotics, counter-drone systems, and hypersonic technologies.
Dealroom figures show defence-focused startups across Europe drawing more venture capital than any other industry on the continent, a tally that places the sector ahead of both space and robotics. Within the EU, defence-related ventures claimed roughly 15 per cent of all venture capital deployed by September, up from 6.2 per cent the previous year, while across NATO member states as a whole that share stood at 4.9 per cent over the same period.
