PiggyGPT

Private companiesCovered

Stark Defence

Berlin, Germany · Founded 2024

Stark Defence builds the Virtus loitering munition, the tube-launched Cascade, the Gambit quadcopter, the Vanta uncrewed surface vessels and the Minerva command-and-control software, sold to the Bundeswehr, Ukraine and another NATO member.

Profile

What it builds and who buys it

  • ·Virtus is a vertical take-off one-way effector with a range over 130 kilometres, an endurance of up to 90 minutes and a German warhead. It needs no catapult, launch tube or pad.Stark (product page)
  • ·Stark signed a Bundeswehr framework agreement for Virtus after the Bundestag budget committee approved it on February 25, 2026. The contract provides for several thousand systems within two years of qualification, for Brigade 45 in Lithuania, with deliveries from 2026.Stark (company release), Feb 26, 2026
  • ·The approved contract is worth €268 million ($316 million). Options could add €1 billion if the system proves mature and lawmakers agree. Helsing received an equal contract for its HX-2.Defense News, Feb 26, 2026
  • ·The budget committee capped the framework at €1 billion per supplier against a plan once projected at €4.4 billion. It named Rheinmetall as a possible third supplier. Some members objected to Peter Thiel’s involvement in Stark.Defence Industry Europe, Feb 25, 2026
  • ·Stark signed a loitering-munition contract with the armed forces of an unnamed NATO country in early February 2026, with all deliveries due by the end of August 2026.Stark (company release), Feb 4, 2026
  • ·Virtus has been deployed in Ukraine, including in reconnaissance-strike missions, by the company’s account in October 2025.Stark (company release), Oct 16, 2025
  • ·DroneXL reported, citing the Financial Times, that Virtus missed its target in all four strike attempts in October 2025 demonstrations with British and German forces.DroneXL, Oct 31, 2025
  • ·In February 2026 Stark disputed a video from a Ukrainian military unit criticising Virtus. The company said the same unit had formally requested more systems.Stark (company statement), Feb 16, 2026
  • ·TDW, an MBDA company, supplies the warheads. The first Virtus hot strike with TDW’s LION STRIKE 110 was in December 2025, and a TDW warhead was demonstrated in Gambit in August 2026.Stark (company release), Aug 26, 2026
  • ·Cascade, unveiled in June 2026, is a tube-launched effector with a range of up to 100 km and a 4.5 kg payload. Gambit is a 6 kg quadcopter for reconnaissance and strike at up to 25 km. Force Development Services is building a six-cell launcher for Cascade.Stark (company release), Jun 8, 2026
  • ·The Vanta-4 and Vanta-6 uncrewed surface vessels, with ranges up to 900 nautical miles, were tested for nearly a month at NATO’s REP(MUS) exercise off Portugal in September 2025.Stark (company release), Sep 30, 2025
  • ·Stark acquired Raydiant RF, a Berlin radio-frequency start-up, in September 2026 on undisclosed terms. It builds on R-Zero, Stark’s first electronic warfare system, which locates hostile transmitters and radars.Stark (company release), Sep 4, 2026
  • ·Stark acquired Pleno, a Berlin autonomous-navigation software start-up, in 2025 for drone swarming.Tech.eu, Aug 21, 2025
  • ·Stark has a 40,000-square-foot production facility in Swindon, England, opened in 2025, and operates in Germany, Ukraine, Sweden and Greece.The Next Web, Jun 23, 2026
  • ·An R&D hub in Ukraine, announced in February 2026, is a 2,000 square metre site for over 200 specialists. Stark also plans a local production site there.Stark (company release), Feb 13, 2026
  • ·Jan-Patrick Helmsen, former chief executive of Rheinmetall Waffe Munition, joined as chief sales officer, and Martin Rost, formerly a Zalando senior vice president, as chief operating officer, from January 2026.Stark (company release), Dec 16, 2025
  • ·The defence ministry told lawmakers that Thiel Capital owned less than 10 percent of Stark. A Stark representative told Bloomberg that Thiel’s overall stake, including through Founders Fund, fell after the June 2026 round.Bloomberg (via The Star), Jun 25, 2026

Founders and leadership

  • Florian SeibelCo-founder

    Founder and chief executive of Quantum Systems. He founded Stark after the German government approached him about weaponised versions of Quantum Systems’ products. In August 2025 the company said he was not part of its executive team.Resilience Media, Aug 29, 2025

  • Johannes SchabackCo-founder and chief technology officer

    A Rocket Internet alum, by Resilience Media’s account.Resilience Media, Aug 29, 2025

  • Uwe HorstmannChief executive since October 2025

    A founding partner at Project A, a Stark investor, and a reserve officer in the German Armed Forces. He had invested in defence start-ups including ARX Robotics.The Next Web, Jun 23, 2026

  • André SchneiderCo-founder and board member

    A Rocket Internet alum and Stark’s general counsel in August 2025, by Resilience Media’s account.Stark (company release), Dec 22, 2025

Prospects, after the June 2026 round

Prepared by PiggyGPT, as of Oct 12, 2026

  • ·Germany is the anchor customer. The Bundeswehr’s Virtus contract is worth €268 million, and its options of up to €1 billion depend on qualification and further votes. A second NATO country signed in February 2026. Ukraine fields the system.Defense News, Feb 26, 2026
  • ·No revenue figure is on file.
  • ·The capital path is fast and private. A $500 million post-money in August 2025 was followed by a reported unicorn round in January 2026 and €500 million in June 2026. Reports of the June valuation range from €3.2 billion to more than €3.5 billion.Bloomberg (via The Star), Jun 25, 2026
  • ·The risks on file are performance and politics. Virtus missed in all four strikes at October 2025 trials, by a Financial Times report. A Ukrainian unit criticised it in February 2026, which the company disputes. Thiel’s stake drew objections in the Bundestag, and Rheinmetall is a possible third supplier.Defence Industry Europe, Feb 25, 2026
  • ·For the acquisition read, the one tie to a prime is MBDA, whose TDW subsidiary supplies the warheads. No prime holds equity, and no talks or approach are reported. The posture is watch.

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

$500M

Post-money, Series B, reportedResilience Media, Aug 29, 2025

Last round or tender

$570Mraised

Funding round, Jun 23, 2026Bloomberg (via The Star), Jun 25, 2026

€500 million ($570 million as Bloomberg converted), led by Sequoia and Founders Fund with the NATO Innovation Fund, Project A, Air Street Capital, 201 Ventures, Advent and Döpfner Capital. No cited source names the series. Bloomberg wrote that the company’s statement put the valuation at €3.2 billion, not converted to US dollars and so carried here rather than as a valuation. Tech.eu gave €3.5 billion, The Next Web more than €3.5 billion and DroneXL about €3.5 billion ($3.65 billion). DroneXL and The Next Web report that Stark passed a $1 billion valuation in an unannounced January 2026 round, with no amount or date, so it has no row.

Latest revenue figure

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Valuation to revenue

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Post-money valuation by round

Fewer than two dated figures on file to plot; the table carries what there is.

DateRoundRaisedPost-money
Jun 23, 2026Funding round€500 million ($570 million as Bloomberg converted), led by Sequoia and Founders Fund with the NATO Innovation Fund, Project A, Air Street Capital, 201 Ventures, Advent and Döpfner Capital. No cited source names the series. Bloomberg wrote that the company’s statement put the valuation at €3.2 billion, not converted to US dollars and so carried here rather than as a valuation. Tech.eu gave €3.5 billion, The Next Web more than €3.5 billion and DroneXL about €3.5 billion ($3.65 billion). DroneXL and The Next Web report that Stark passed a $1 billion valuation in an unannounced January 2026 round, with no amount or date, so it has no row.$570M—
Aug 21, 2025Series BLed by Sequoia with Thiel Capital, the NATO Innovation Fund, In-Q-Tel, Project A, Döpfner Capital and 8VC. Stark confirmed the round to TechCrunch at a $500 million post-money and said Sequoia also led its previous round, taking the total raised to $100 million. The Next Web calls it a Series B. Bloomberg reported that Sequoia first invested $15 million at about €90 million, as DroneXL relayed, with no date beyond late 2023, so that round has no row.$62M$500Mreported

Primary capital across the rounds on file: $632M

Revenue

No citable revenue figure on file.

Secondary venues

  • Caplightpublic page seen Oct 12, 2026

    No price on the public page.

    No public MarketPrice; historical pricing is behind a login, and the page shows only Caplight’s last-round figures, a $3.97 billion estimated valuation with a June 23, 2026 round.

  • Jarsypublic page seen Oct 12, 2026

    No price on the public page.

    A tokenized pre-IPO platform. The public page names Stark Defence and its legal name, SKD SE, and shows no valuation, token or share price.

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 12, 2026

Signals

  • Aug 21, 2025Sequoia led a $62 million round at a $500 million post-money, with Thiel Capital, the NATO Innovation Fund and In-Q-Tel among the investors, Resilience Media reported.Resilience Media, Aug 29, 2025
  • Dec 22, 2025TDW and Stark fired TDW’s LION STRIKE 110 warhead from a Virtus in the first loitering-munition hot strike in Germany, a few months after the two signed a cooperation agreement.Stark (company release), Dec 22, 2025
  • Feb 25, 2026The Bundestag budget committee approved a €268 million Bundeswehr contract for Virtus, with options that could add €1 billion. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Peter Thiel’s stake is a one-digit percentage.Defense News, Feb 26, 2026
  • Jun 23, 2026Stark raised €500 million led by Sequoia and Founders Fund. A Stark representative told Bloomberg that Thiel’s overall shareholding fell with the round.Bloomberg (via The Star), Jun 25, 2026
  • Aug 26, 2026Stark and TDW, an MBDA company, demonstrated a TDW warhead in the Gambit loitering munition, the latest step in their partnership.Stark (company release), Aug 26, 2026

Named counterparties

  • MBDAIts TDW subsidiary supplies the warheads for Virtus and Gambit under a cooperation agreement. No stake or interest in a deal has been reported.Stark (company release), Aug 26, 2026

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 12, 2026