AI startup Helsing raises €209 million for the defence of democracies

AI developer Helsing, focused on the defence sector, closed a €209 million Series B round. It was led by venture firm General Catalyst, according to a press release.

The strategic investor was Saab, the Swedish group.

The startup was founded in 2021 and specialises in military solutions and components based on artificial intelligence, including for the forthcoming modernization of NATO’s Eurofighter aircraft and the Future Combat Air System programme.

According to the statement, the project focuses on developing modern technologies “to defend democratic nations”.

“We founded Helsing because we believe that AI will be crucial for democracies to continue defending their values. Our recent developments show that governments and industry share this conviction,” said Gundbert Scherf, co-founder of the startup.

The funds will be directed to expanding operations in France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Earlier Helsing backed Spotify founder Daniel Ek. His investment company, Prima Materia, participated in the €102.5 million Series A round.

Earlier the amount of $200 million was raised by another AI startup—Imbue. It was supported by the Astera Institute, Nvidia and others. Investors valued the project at more than $1 billion.

In August, the South Korean telecom giant SK Telecom invested $100 million in Anthropic. The parties signed a partnership agreement to build a large language model for the AI platform Telco.

Earlier this year, the U.S. government issued a declaration on the responsible use of artificial intelligence in the armed forces.