German startup STARK just added $62 million to its cash arsenal in a new funding round led by financial heavyweight Sequoia Capital, according to Tech Funding News. This brings the total cash haul since the attack drone weapon maker was founded to around $100 million.
Additional investors Peter Thiel, 8VC, the NATO Innovation Fund, In-Q-Tel Project A and Döpfner Capital joined the round, lifting STARK's valuation to a respectable $500 million. In-Q-Tel's investment is significant because it's the venture branch of the CIA, highlighting the U.S. government's interest in weaponized drone technology.
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Florian Seibel and Johannes Schaback launched the company in 2024 with an initial $15 million investment from Sequoia. STARK wants to scale production of next-generation battle drones capable of enormous damage. The Russia-Ukraine war highlights the importance of these weapons to offensive and defensive strategies on the modern-day battlefield.
STARK is designing both hardware and software systems, with loitering munition drones that can hover over enemy targets before striking and AI-powered command-and-control systems that can perform those sophisticated maneuvers. Meanwhile, it may also build new land, air and sea drone platforms, adding to potential lethality, according to Tech Funding News,
STARK says it's working in close collaboration with NATO allied and partner defense departments and is testing systems under "real operational conditions." Details are hard to find, given military secrecy, but the comment suggests they may have been used on the battlefield. The company team now includes "experienced leaders in NATO and allied forces."
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The flagship OWE-V Virtus, or One Way Effector-VTOL, drone claims a battery life of up to 60 minutes and deployment in less than five minutes, with little operator training. The drone can also cruise at a steady 75 mph and perform rapid, high velocity dives with a payload up to 11 pounds and speeds up to 160 mph. It also has a Return-and-Land feature when no targets are detected.
The AI side appears to be equally powerful, if accurate. STARK says it will respond in real-time to changes in the environment and can evade "sophisticated electronic warfare threats." It will also track targets up to 62 miles, even in "low-signal or denied environments." Again, it is tough to confirm the claims due to secrecy enveloping these Space Age military monsters.
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STARK is benefiting from Europe's defense rearmament, accelerated by two wars and greater U.S. military commitments. According to Tech Funding News, it just bought Pleno, a Berlin-based startup working on autonomous navigation software to enhance swarming capabilities. It also announced a new Swindon, England production facility, offering better connections outside the European Union.
Germany plans to raise its annual defense budget to $188 billion by 2029, providing a solid foundation for domestic military purchases. STARK's local startup competitor is Munich-based Helsing. The four-year-old AI military and intelligence platform raised $694 million in June, bringing its valuation to a hefty $12 billion. The round was led by a competing set of investors that included Prima Materia, Lightspeed Ventures, Accel, Plural, General Catalyst and SAAB.
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