June 25, 2026
NATO Innovation Fund doubles down on Stark to for supercharge defence production and R&D
The NATO Innovation Fund is doubling down on STARK – a European manufacturer building unmanned systems across air, land and sea – as part of a €500 million financing round to accelerate defence research, development and manufacturing across Europe. The investment will fund new electronic warfare research facilities, scale production output to thousands of systems per month, and accelerate the development of sovereign defence capabilities.
The challenge facing Europe is no longer whether we can innovate, it’s whether we can scale. This financing is a €500 million commitment to Europe’s defence industrial base — funding the engineers, factories and technologies that Europe needs now.
More than 80% of the capital raised will be invested directly into R&D and manufacturing. Founded in 2024, STARK secured its first contract within nine months. Today, the company operates across five countries, has built more than 20,000 square metres of production capacity and recently secured a landmark framework agreement for its flagship loitering munition programme.
We’re proud to be doubling down on STARK. The company has demonstrated an exceptional ability to move from concept to deployment, delivering technology that NATO nations actually need. STARK is proving that technology built in Europe can grow, scale, and compete across the region and beyond.
TheNATO Innovation Fund is joined in this round by investors from across the defence, technology and institutional finance sectors, including Sequoia Capital, Founders Fund, Project A, Air Street Capital, 201 Ventures, Advent and Döpfner Capital.
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