Stark

Stark is a Defense startup based in Berlin, Germany that has raised $100M in venture capital across 3 funding rounds since 2024. The company reached Series A stage in Late 2024 with a $15M round led by Sequoia Capital at a $97M valuation. Stark's investor base includes 8 institutional funds, with Sequoia Capital leading the most recent equity round.

Stark is a Berlin-based European defence technology company developing autonomous weapons systems across air, maritime, and software domains. Founded in 2024, the company builds AI-powered strike drones and unmanned systems for NATO allies and partner nations. Its flagship product is the OWE-V Virtus, an electrically powered vertical take-off loitering munition capable of cruising at 120 km/h, diving at 250 km/h, carrying a 5 kg warhead, and operating for 60 minutes with a 100 km combat radius. Alongside the Virtus, Stark produces the Vanta unmanned surface vessel for maritime deterrence and reconnaissance, and Minerva, a multi-domain AI command-and-control software platform enabling single operators to coordinate drone swarms. The company employs over 450 people across 18,500 sq m of production facilities in Germany and the UK, with R&D centres in Ukraine, Greece, and Sweden. Stark invests more than 45% of expenditure in R&D and secured a €2.4 billion framework contract with the German Bundeswehr in early 2026, with €280 million booked for immediate delivery. As of May 2026 the company is in talks to raise a new funding round that could push its valuation to €2.5 billion.

Lead investors

Co-investors

• FundingStark: Drone scale-up could boost valuation to 2.5 billion eurosMay 2026