PiggyGPT

Private companiesCovered

Helsing

Munich, Germany · Founded 2021

Helsing builds the Altra reconnaissance-and-strike software, the HX-2 strike drone, the Centaur air-combat agent and the CA-1 Europa uncrewed combat aircraft, and the Lura and SG-1 Fathom underwater surveillance system, sold to the Bundeswehr, Ukraine and other European militaries.

Profile

What it builds and who buys it

  • ·The HX-2, unveiled in December 2024, is an electrically driven X-wing loitering munition of up to 12 kg take-off weight, a top speed of 250 km/h, a range of up to 100 km and a payload of up to 4.5 kg, flown under the Altra reconnaissance-and-strike software, which navigates by landmarks and recognises targets by image in jammed conditions. Ukraine received 4,000 HF-1 munitions through a German government initiative, with HX-2 deliveries from the first quarter of 2025.European Security & Defence, Dec 3, 2024
  • ·Ukraine ordered 6,000 HX-2 in February 2025 after 4,000 strike drones already on order, funded by an undisclosed international donor. The first Resilience Factory, RF-1 in southern Germany, has an initial capacity of 1,000 HX-2 a month, and the company plans more across Europe.Breaking Defense, Feb 14, 2025
  • ·Bloomberg reported in January 2026 that Ukraine and Germany suspended further HX-2 orders after frontline tests by Ukraine’s 14th Regiment: an internal German military presentation dated November 20 recorded drones failing to take off, missing AI terminal guidance and visual target acquisition, and jamming of the operator link. Helsing said it was unaware of the presentation, rejected the findings as premature and said Ukrainian units continued to ask for the system.The Defense Post, Jan 20, 2026
  • ·The Bundestag budget committee approved a €268 million ($316 million) Bundeswehr contract for HX-2 in February 2026, beside an equal contract for Stark Defence’s Virtus, with options that could add €1 billion to each if the systems prove mature and lawmakers agree. The committee attached reporting duties, cancellation clauses tied to qualification tests and parallel soldier trials; the munitions are to equip Germany’s armored brigade in Lithuania in 2027.Defense News, Feb 26, 2026
  • ·Under Uranos KI, the Bundeswehr’s AI-supported reconnaissance network for battalion-level surveillance, Helsing and an Airbus Defence and Space team with Quantum Systems each hold a framework agreement, about €136 million in all: four systems per supplier firmly ordered and options for ten more, with about €34 million to Helsing at first, for Panzerbrigade 45 in Lithuania and initial capability between 2026 and 2028.hartpunkt, Dec 10, 2025
  • ·Germany’s procurement office selected Saab’s Arexis suite for the Eurofighter electronic-warfare variant in June 2023 with Helsing as Saab’s AI partner, for 15 aircraft; Airbus contracted Saab in March 2024 with Helsing supplying the AI platform that analyses radar data on board, to replace the Tornado ECR in 2030. No Helsing contract value has been stated.Breaking Defense, Mar 26, 2024
  • ·Helsing won a contract in August 2023 to provide the AI backbone for the Future Combat Air System programme, by Tech.eu’s account, with no value stated, and has had personnel in Ukraine since 2022.Tech.eu, Sep 14, 2023
  • ·Helsing’s Centaur agent flew a Saab Gripen E on three flights between May 28 and June 3, 2025 under Sweden’s Project Beyond, funded by the Swedish defence materiel administration FMV, taking autonomous control in beyond-visual-range engagements against a crewed Gripen D and cueing the pilot to fire.Breaking Defense, Jun 11, 2025
  • ·Airbus Defence and Space and Helsing signed a framework cooperation agreement at ILA Berlin in June 2024 on AI for the Wingman, an uncrewed fighter-type aircraft tasked by a Eurofighter pilot, with Helsing supplying the AI software stack, sensor fusion and electronic-warfare algorithms; no value or equity component was disclosed.Airbus (company release), Jun 5, 2024
  • ·The CA-1 Europa, unveiled at full scale in September 2025, is an autonomous multi-role jet in the 3 to 5 ton class at high subsonic speed, flown by Centaur, with service entry targeted for 2029 and test and development at Grob Aircraft, the Bavarian trainer maker Helsing bought from H3 Aerospace in June 2025; no price was reported.Breaking Defense, Sep 25, 2025
  • ·Hensoldt and Helsing agreed in February 2026 to equip the CA-1 with Hensoldt radar, optronics, self-protection and electromagnetic-warfare systems; the first order under the partnership, in July 2026, was for three CAIRAS infrared missile-warning sets, with no value stated.Defence Industry Europe, Jul 27, 2026
  • ·Lura, unveiled in May 2025, is a large acoustic model the company says detects signatures ten times quieter than conventional models and works forty times faster than human operators; the SG-1 Fathom glider it runs on patrols for up to three months, at a claimed 10 percent of the cost of crewed anti-submarine patrols, delivered with Blue Ocean, Ocean Infinity and QinetiQ.UK Defence Journal, May 13, 2025
  • ·Blue Ocean, an Australian builder and operator of autonomous underwater vehicles, was acquired in October 2025 on undisclosed terms, keeping its UK and Australian sites, after the SG-1 Fathom was tested at the BUTEC military range in July 2025.Marine Technology News, Oct 8, 2025
  • ·A Resilience Factory in Plymouth is to build the SG-1 Fathom, part of a £350 million ($458 million) commitment to the UK under the 2024 Trinity House Agreement; sea trials in the Western Approaches, Scotland and Western Australia began in the third quarter of 2025.Janes, Nov 21, 2025
  • ·The first US plant, in Martinsburg, West Virginia, announced in July 2026 with an initial $50 million, is to build HX-2 from November 2026 and reach full rate within a year at up to 2,000 drones a month; no US customer was named.Breaking Defense, Jul 14, 2026
  • ·Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force was field-testing the HX-2 through September 2026 under an initial agreement with the Japanese government struck earlier in 2026, with Rakuten enlisted to broker the sale; no quantities or value were given.Defense News (Reuters), Aug 17, 2026
  • ·In space, Helsing and OHB formed the KIRK joint venture in May 2026 to lead a consortium with Hensoldt and Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace on a space-based surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting system, with Helsing supplying the AI and OHB the end-to-end space systems and the Bundeswehr named as the beneficiary; the ownership split and value were not stated.OHB (company release), May 19, 2026
  • ·Systematic’s SitaWare command suite and Helsing’s Altra were paired in a September 2025 partnership for swarming reconnaissance-strike, aimed at NATO’s eastern flank and the UK’s Project ASGARD, with no terms disclosed; the HX-2 was then deployed in Ukraine.Breaking Defense, Sep 11, 2025
  • ·Keybotic, a Barcelona maker of the Keyper quadruped inspection robot founded in 2020, was reported acquired in January 2026 on undisclosed terms, for monitoring critical infrastructure.Novobrief, Jan 12, 2026
  • ·Saab paid €75 million in cash for a 5 percent stake in Helsing GmbH in September 2023 under a strategic cooperation agreement starting with electronic warfare and surveillance for fighter aircraft; Helsing then had about 220 employees in Germany, the UK and France.Saab (company release), Sep 14, 2023
  • ·Helsing GmbH, the German operating company, filed 2024 accounts with the Bundestag lobby register: revenue of €26.9 million (2023: €9.6 million), a profit of €3.7 million after an €8.0 million loss, 127 employees at year end and a 2025 revenue forecast of €27 million to €30 million for that entity. The accounts cover the GmbH alone; Helsing SE has been its controlling company since June 11, 2025.Helsing GmbH (2024 annual accounts, filed with the Bundestag lobby register), Oct 29, 2025
  • ·About 900 staff at the Series E; the co-chief executive said in May 2026 that the company was about 80 percent European-owned before the round grew by $600 million; Daniel Ek and former Airbus chief executive Tom Enders co-chair the board, and the company has moved to a European corporate structure.The Next Web, Jul 13, 2026

Founders and leadership

  • Torsten ReilCo-founder and co-chief executive

    Co-founded NaturalMotion as an Oxford University spinout in 2001, the animation-technology company TechCrunch records as sold to Zynga for $527 million; chief executive at the 2021 Series A.Forbes (profile page)

  • Gundbert ScherfCo-founder and co-chief executive

    A former McKinsey partner who architected the Bundeswehr’s Cyber and Information Domain Command and the German defence ministry’s digital directorate-general; chief operating officer and president at the 2021 Series A. Breaking Defense styles him chief executive in February 2026, Novobrief co-chief executive in January 2026.TechCrunch, Nov 9, 2021

  • Niklas KöhlerCo-founder; chief product officer at the 2021 Series A

    A theoretical physicist with AI papers in Nature, Nature Communications and Nature Machine Intelligence.TechCrunch, Nov 9, 2021

  • Daniel EkCo-chair

    Spotify’s founder, whose Prima Materia led the Series A and the Series D and holds the board seat he took in 2021; CNBC named him chairman in June 2025, and The Next Web co-chair beside Tom Enders in July 2026.The Next Web, Jul 13, 2026

  • Tom EndersCo-chair

    Former chief executive of Airbus, co-chair of the board by The Next Web’s July 2026 account.The Next Web, Jul 13, 2026

Prospects, after the Series E

Prepared by PiggyGPT, as of Oct 11, 2026

  • ·Demand on the record is Ukrainian orders and German frameworks: 4,000 HF-1 and 6,000 HX-2 for Ukraine, the Bundeswehr’s €268 million HX-2 contract with options of up to €1 billion, about €34 million firm under Uranos KI with options for ten more systems, and a part of Saab’s Eurofighter EK work, whose Arexis contracts reached almost €550 million ($639 million) by November 2025 with Helsing’s share unstated. Options are not orders: the budget committee tied further purchases to qualification tests and reports, and the Japanese trials and the Hensoldt, Airbus and Systematic partnerships carry no value.FlightGlobal, Nov 16, 2025
  • ·No group revenue figure is on file. The one filed figure is the German GmbH’s: €26.9 million for 2024 with a €3.7 million profit and a forecast of €27 million to €30 million for 2025, in euros and for that entity alone, which is why the page carries no revenue row and no multiple. The Next Web counts about 900 staff.
  • ·The capital path reads as private and European by design. Five rounds from 2021 to 2026 took the valuation from north of €400 million to $18 billion; the Financial Times reported in May 2026 a raise of $1.2 billion at $18 billion that closed two months later at $1.8 billion, and the company said it remains predominantly European-owned. No company statement on a listing is on file; The Next Web wrote that the move to an SE structure makes a listing the obvious next stop, which is that outlet’s reading.
  • ·The build-out is the company’s own: RF-1 at 1,000 HX-2 a month, Plymouth for the SG-1 Fathom within a £350 million UK commitment, Martinsburg at an initial $50 million rising to 2,000 drones a month by late 2027, the CA-1 at Grob toward a 2029 service entry and a satellite constellation deploying from late 2028. The three acquisitions (Grob, Blue Ocean, Keybotic) were all on undisclosed terms.
  • ·The risks named outlets have raised are performance and procurement. Bloomberg’s January 2026 report of paused Ukrainian orders and a German presentation on take-off failures and missing autonomy is disputed by the company; the Bundestag capped the loitering-munition frameworks at €1 billion per supplier against a €4.4 billion projection, named Rheinmetall as a possible third supplier and objected to Stark Defence’s link to Peter Thiel; and The Next Web asked whether a company now funded by JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and CPP Investments keeps its sovereign-European positioning.Defence Industry Europe, Feb 25, 2026
  • ·Germany is the customer that pays: the Bundeswehr contracts, and the HF-1 and HX-2 deliveries to Ukraine funded through Germany’s capability-enhancement initiative. Sweden’s FMV funded the Gripen flights, the UK commitment is the company’s own, and Japan is at trials. The ties to Saab, Airbus, Hensoldt, Rheinmetall, Systematic, Kongsberg and OHB are partnerships; only Saab holds equity.ESUT (Europäische Sicherheit & Technik), Dec 4, 2024
  • ·For the acquisition read, Saab’s 5 percent stake and cooperation agreement is the one equity tie to a prime, and Saab returned in the Series C and Series D. Against it, the company is an acquirer three times over, raised $1.8 billion in July 2026 led by Dragoneer, and is co-chaired by its largest early backer. The posture is watch on the Saab stake alone.

A summary of what the figures on this page add up to, prepared by PiggyGPT from the record on file and its cited sources. Not the Street's view, and not advice.

Funding

Last valuation

$18B

Post-money, Series E, reportedTech.eu, Jul 13, 2026

Last round or tender

$1.8Braised

Series ECNBC, Jul 13, 2026

Led by Dragoneer with Lightspeed co-leading, with Disruptive, Iconiq, Goldman Sachs Alternatives, JPMorganChase, CPP Investments, General Catalyst, Plural and StepStone, and Prima Materia, Accel and Greenoaks returning. Announced in US dollars; the $18 billion is post-money by Tech.eu’s account, and CNBC relays both figures as the company’s own.

Latest revenue figure

—

Valuation to revenue

—

Post-money valuation by round

$0$5B$10B$15B$20B20252026$18B Series E
DateRoundRaisedPost-money
Jul 13, 2026Series ELed by Dragoneer with Lightspeed co-leading, with Disruptive, Iconiq, Goldman Sachs Alternatives, JPMorganChase, CPP Investments, General Catalyst, Plural and StepStone, and Prima Materia, Accel and Greenoaks returning. Announced in US dollars; the $18 billion is post-money by Tech.eu’s account, and CNBC relays both figures as the company’s own.$1.80B$18.00Breported
Jun 17, 2025Series D€600 million ($693.6 million as CNBC converted), led by Prima Materia with Lightspeed, Accel, Plural, General Catalyst and Saab returning and BDT & MSD Partners new. CNBC reported that Helsing did not disclose the valuation; Handelsblatt put it at €12 billion two days later, and TechCrunch gave that figure as $14 billion in May 2026, the dollar figure recorded here.$694M$14.00Breported
Jul 11, 2024Series C€450 million ($488 million as SiliconANGLE converted), led by General Catalyst with Elad Gil, Accel, Saab, Lightspeed, Plural and Greenoaks. The valuation is Bloomberg’s €5 billion, which SiliconANGLE gives as $5.38 billion.$488M$5.38Breported
Sep 14, 2023Series B€209 million ($223 million as TechCrunch converted), led by General Catalyst, with Saab joining as a strategic investor: €75 million in cash for a 5 percent stake, by Saab’s own release. TechCrunch put the pre-money at €1.5 billion and the post-money over €1.7 billion, in euros only, so no valuation is recorded.$223M—
Nov 9, 2021Series A€102.5 million, €100 million of it from Prima Materia, the vehicle of Spotify’s Daniel Ek, who joined the board; not converted to US dollars. TechCrunch put the valuation north of €400 million, in euros only, so none is recorded. Munich Startup’s account names an €8.5 million seed in spring 2021 with Zalando’s founders, with no date, so it has no row.——

Primary capital across the rounds on file: $3.21B

Revenue

No citable revenue figure on file.

Secondary venues

  • Clarity (formerly Hiive)public page seen Oct 11, 2026

    Clarity Price $26.66, as of Oct 11, 2026

    Clarity calls the figure a model-derived indicative estimate calculated daily; the page dates it no further than a "last updated" line reading August 28, 2026.

  • Caplightpublic page seen Oct 11, 2026

    No price on the public page.

    The page shows no MarketPrice: it says no recent secondary market data is available, and shows an $18 billion estimated valuation with the July 2026 Series E.

  • Augmentpublic page seen Oct 11, 2026

    No price on the public page.

    The company page gates its prices behind sign-in and shows only round data; Helsing is not on Augment’s Power 20 page.

  • Jarsypublic page seen Oct 11, 2026

    No price on the public page.

    A tokenized pre-IPO platform. The public page names Helsing GmbH, shows an $18 billion latest valuation and no token or share price, and says its valuations may not represent a price at which anyone can transact.

A venue is listed when its public page named the company on the date shown. A price is the figure that page showed, under the venue’s own name for it and dated as the venue dated it; it is a level the venue publishes, not a trade. Nothing is recorded from behind a login.

Reads

Acquisition: Watch

A cited tie to a plausible buyer: a strategic partner, an investor stake, a tender offer, a stated appetite. Nothing reported.

Prepared by PiggyGPT, as of Oct 11, 2026

Signals

  • Nov 9, 2021Prima Materia, Daniel Ek’s investment vehicle, put €100 million of a €102.5 million Series A into Helsing at a valuation north of €400 million, and Ek joined the board.TechCrunch, Nov 9, 2021
  • Sep 15, 2022Rheinmetall and Helsing announced a partnership to put Helsing’s AI on Rheinmetall’s land platforms and retrofit existing ones, with no financial terms disclosed.Rheinmetall (company release), Sep 15, 2022
  • Sep 14, 2023Saab paid €75 million in cash for a 5 percent stake in Helsing GmbH within the General Catalyst-led Series B, under a strategic cooperation agreement starting with electronic warfare and surveillance for fighter aircraft.Saab (company release), Sep 14, 2023
  • May 24, 2024Forbes reported that Helsing was in talks to raise €370 million at a $4 billion valuation led by General Catalyst, as Tech.eu relayed; the round had not closed.Tech.eu, May 24, 2024
  • Jun 5, 2024Airbus Defence and Space and Helsing signed a framework cooperation agreement on AI for the Wingman uncrewed fighter concept, with no value or equity component disclosed.Airbus (company release), Jun 5, 2024
  • Jul 11, 2024Helsing closed a €450 million Series C led by General Catalyst, with Saab among the investors, at a valuation Bloomberg put at €5 billion.SiliconANGLE, Jul 11, 2024
  • Feb 14, 2025Ukraine ordered 6,000 HX-2 loitering munitions on top of 4,000 already on order, funded by an undisclosed international donor; the first Resilience Factory in southern Germany has an initial capacity of 1,000 a month.Breaking Defense, Feb 14, 2025
  • Jun 4, 2025Helsing agreed to buy Grob Aircraft, maker of the G120TP military trainer, from H3 Aerospace on undisclosed terms.FlightGlobal, Jun 4, 2025
  • Jun 17, 2025Helsing raised €600 million ($693.6 million) in a round led by Prima Materia, with Saab returning; the company did not disclose the valuation, and Ek is its chairman.CNBC, Jun 17, 2025
  • Jun 19, 2025Handelsblatt reported that the round valued Helsing at €12 billion, up from about €5 billion, making it the most valuable German start-up.Handelsblatt, Jun 19, 2025
  • Oct 8, 2025Helsing agreed to acquire Blue Ocean, an Australian builder and operator of autonomous underwater vehicles, on undisclosed terms.Marine Technology News, Oct 8, 2025
  • Dec 10, 2025The Bundestag’s committees approved Uranos KI framework agreements of about €136 million in all for Helsing and for an Airbus team with Quantum Systems, four systems per supplier firm and options for ten more, with about €34 million to Helsing at first.hartpunkt, Dec 10, 2025
  • Dec 15, 2025Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace and Helsing agreed to build a constellation of small satellites for surveillance and targeting, deploying from late 2028, with no value disclosed.European Spaceflight, Dec 15, 2025
  • Jan 12, 2026Novobrief reported that Helsing had acquired Keybotic, a Barcelona maker of the Keyper quadruped inspection robot, on undisclosed terms.Novobrief, Jan 12, 2026
  • Jan 20, 2026Bloomberg reported that Ukraine and Germany suspended further HX-2 orders after an internal German military presentation recorded take-off failures and missing autonomy features; Helsing disputed the findings.The Defense Post, Jan 20, 2026
  • Feb 12, 2026Hensoldt and Helsing announced a partnership to fit the CA-1 Europa with Hensoldt radar, optronics, self-protection and electromagnetic-warfare systems, with no equity component or value disclosed.Breaking Defense, Feb 12, 2026
  • Feb 26, 2026The Bundestag budget committee approved a €268 million ($316 million) Bundeswehr contract for HX-2, with options that could add €1 billion, beside an equal contract for Stark Defence.Defense News, Feb 26, 2026
  • May 11, 2026The Financial Times reported that Helsing was close to raising $1.2 billion at an $18 billion valuation led by Dragoneer with Lightspeed co-leading, as TechCrunch relayed; the companies could not be reached for comment.TechCrunch, May 11, 2026
  • May 19, 2026Helsing and OHB formed the KIRK joint venture to lead a consortium with Hensoldt and Kongsberg on a space-based surveillance and targeting system; the ownership split and value were not stated.OHB (company release), May 19, 2026
  • Jul 13, 2026Helsing announced a $1.8 billion Series E at an $18 billion valuation, up from €12 billion in June 2025, which Defense News called Europe’s biggest-ever funding round for a defense-technology startup; the company said it remains predominantly European-owned.Defense News, Jul 13, 2026
  • Jul 14, 2026Helsing picked Martinsburg, West Virginia for its first US plant, with an initial $50 million, to build HX-2 from November 2026 at up to 2,000 a month at full rate.Breaking Defense, Jul 14, 2026
  • Aug 17, 2026Reuters reported that Helsing enlisted Rakuten to broker a sale of the HX-2 to Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force, which was field-testing it through September 2026.Defense News (Reuters), Aug 17, 2026

Named counterparties

  • SaabHolds a 5 percent stake bought for €75 million in September 2023 under a strategic cooperation agreement, and returned in the Series C and Series D. No interest in a deal has been reported.Saab (company release), Sep 14, 2023

Counterparties are named for a cited reason: a partnership, an investment, or a stated appetite. Naming is not a forecast.

A summary of what the figures on this page add up to, prepared by PiggyGPT from the record on file and its cited sources. Not the Street's view, and not advice.

Sources

Researched Oct 11, 2026