According to Resilience Media, the State of Defence Tech 2026 report from Dealroom and Resilience Media, presented at the Resilience Conference in London on Monday, 5 October, projects European defence startup funding will reach around $10.5 billion by year-end. That is growth of more than 300% on 2025's $2.6 billion, and compares with $611 million in 2021 and $1.2 billion in 2024 — increases of roughly 1,620% and 775% respectively. Funding has already hit $7.4 billion this year, and defence now claims 11.1% of all European VC, up from 4% in 2025.

The scale is striking because two Munich rounds rewrote the record books in a single month. Per Resilience Media, Helsing raised $1.8 billion in July at an $18 billion valuation, less than two weeks after drone maker Quantum Systems secured a $1.2 billion Series D at $8 billion — consecutive records for the largest European defence tech VC rounds ever. As recently as 2021, a $113 million Series A from Helsing was enough to set the European record. Germany leads Europe with $3.5 billion raised this year, ahead of Finland's $1.2 billion and the UK's $932 million, and German companies have raised $5.9 billion since 2020 — nearly triple the UK's $2 billion.

The report, cited by Resilience Media, breaks down exactly where the money flows. Drones attracted $4.7 billion across 40 European funding rounds in 2026, the biggest defence segment by a wide margin, while anti-drone technologies raised another $1.2 billion and maritime robotics — including unmanned surface and underwater vessels — drew about $800 million. Beyond Europe, defence startups across NATO and allied countries raised $27.1 billion so far this year, already 1.9 times the full-2025 total, with Dealroom projecting $38.5 billion by year-end thanks to seven rounds above $1 billion from Anduril, Helsing, Saronic, Shield AI, Quantum Systems, Iceye and Castelion. The US took $19.6 billion, 75% of the total, while the EU's share climbed from 15% to 21%.

Exits remain the weak point. Resilience Media reports 21 defence-tech exits across NATO and allied countries in 2025, up from an average of eight a year between 2021 and 2024, with 31 projected for 2026 — but total exit value is projected to fall from $18.6 billion last year to $15.4 billion in 2026. Only one European company, London quantum-encryption firm Arqit, appears in the top 10 all-time exits. Bessemer partner Alex Ferrara told Resilience Media that defence tech has only a small number of strategic acquirers, unlike enterprise software, creating both an opening for 'neo primes' with broad AI-driven portfolios and a squeeze on narrower companies. Meanwhile, just 4% of UK MOD direct spend with domestic industry went to SMEs in 2024/25, per the same report.

The money is compounding. Resilience Media notes Lakestar closed a $300 million defence and dual-use fund in July, Expeditions raised a €197 million defence-focused fund, and Plural has reportedly been raising a €1 billion fund. The harder test is procurement: German startups struggle to move from demonstration to contract despite a defence budget exceeding €100 billion this year. The same investor momentum is spilling into adjacent infrastructure — BeBeez International reports European neocloud startup Verda, formerly DataCrunch, raised a $189 million Series B led by Emergence Capital, lifting its total funding past $450 million as it targets more than 250MW of operational capacity by 2027, with data centers in Finland and Iceland running on 100% renewable energy.