- In its first closing of the Series D round, Tekever has raised $580 million, giving the company a valuation of $6.4 billion.
- UC Investments is making its first direct investment in Europe, and Baillie Gifford is also participating as an investor.
- The deal comes after Tekever secured a contract valued at up to £400 million to take over from the UK Army’s Watchkeeper drones.
TEKEVER, the Lisbon-based defence tech company, has now completed the first stage of a $580 million Series D financing, bringing its valuation to $6.4 billion, nearly five times what it was a year ago.
The investment round was led by UC Investments, the investment arm of the University of California, and Baillie Gifford; this marks the first time that UC has made a direct investment in a company based in Europe.
Merlyn Advisors, whose portfolio manager Ben Wallace was previously the UK defence secretary, has now become a strategic backer. Crescent Cove, Ventura Capital and Iberis Capital, who were among the original investors, also took part.
The company plans to close further portions of the round in the coming months as it attracts additional investors.
Ricardo Mendes, founder and chief executive officer of TEKEVER, said: “This investment represents far more than a capital raise. It brings together an exceptional group of investors around a shared ambition for what TEKEVER is becoming. Having such a long-term investor like UC Investments choose TEKEVER for its first direct investment in Europe is a powerful endorsement of our technology, our team and our long-term vision.”
From banking software to battlefield drones
Mendes founded TEKEVER in 2001 together with his classmates from Lisbon’s Instituto Superior Técnico. Initially, the company developed software for linking devices to the ‘evernet’. By 2009, the founders had begun applying their knowledge of distributed systems to drones.
Today, TEKEVER designs and constructs its own unmanned aircraft, such as the AR3, AR4 and AR5, and offers the data it gathers through a subscription intelligence service. The drones are used by the UK Home Office to patrol the English Channel.
The size of TEKEVER’s workforce has increased to around 900, a rise of nearly 40% in the last year, according to Revelio Labs.
A competitive field of billion-dollar drone makers
Despite its $6.4 billion valuation, TEKEVER remains behind its top competitors in Europe. Helsing, based in Munich, raised $1.8 billion in July at an $18 billion valuation, and Quantum Systems raised $1.2 billion at an $8 billion valuation during the same month. Both companies focus on strike drones and battlefield software, whereas TEKEVER specialises in surveillance and reconnaissance.
Chris Evdaimon from Baillie Gifford referred to this specialisation as a strength at the time of the firm’s initial investment in 2024, stating that “TEKEVER is a rapidly growing and already profitable company, a rare combination in defence, national security and space start-ups”.
In the United States, Anduril is the leading player in the sector, having raised $5 billion in May and achieving a valuation of $61 billion.
In 2025, global venture funding for defence technology reached a record high of $49.1 billion, up from $27.2 billion the previous year, according to PitchBook. TEKEVER’s funding round took place three months after the company secured a contract from the UK Ministry of Defence worth up to £400 million over a ten-year period to build CORVUS, the drone which will replace the Army’s ageing Watchkeeper drones with its AR5 platform.
Europe currently counts at least three defence unicorns: Helsing, Quantum Systems, and TEKEVER. It has not yet been determined whether all three will be awarded the role of prime contractor, or whether smaller firms will merge as the government decides on one or two national leaders.
