Credit: TEKEVER
The fund raise is precisely designed to support that growth, not only organically, developing new technology, but through acquisitions.
Ricardo Mendes, founder and chief executive of Tekever, said that in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Wednesday. He said he expects the defence technology market to go through tremendous consolidation over the next few years.
Surveillance drone maker Tekever announced the first close of a $580m Series D the same day. The round values the company at $6.4bn.
Who is paying
UC Investments, the investment arm of the University of California, led the round with Baillie Gifford. Tekever said it is UC Investments’ first direct investment in Europe. Baillie Gifford is an existing backer.
Merlyn Advisors joined as a new strategic investor. Sir Ben Wallace, the former UK defence secretary, works there as a portfolio manager. Crescent Cove, Ventura Capital and Iberis Capital, which already held stakes, also invested again.
Tekever has not finished raising. It said the first close covers the majority of the $580m. It expects further closings over the coming months to bring in new strategic investors.
The company said the money will fund international expansion, manufacturing and technology capacity, and strategic acquisitions. It will also speed up development of its AI-powered autonomous systems.
Mendes told Bloomberg that Tekever employs more than 1,500 people and is adding product lines and infrastructure in countries including the UK and France. He said the company plans to use its existing operations as a platform to bring acquired technologies and companies to market.
From £1bn to $6.4bn
Tekever said in May 2025 that its valuation had passed £1bn. At the time, it also announced a five-year £400m development programme in the UK, called Overmatch.
Mendes founded the company in Lisbon in 2001. It has been active in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Bloomberg reported. The Series D announcement is datelined London.
The round follows the UK Ministry of Defence’s choice of Tekever to deliver Corvus, the British Army’s new surveillance capability. The programme is worth up to £400m over ten years and is built on Tekever’s AR5 system.
Chris Evdaimon, an investment manager at Baillie Gifford, pointed to that operational record in the announcement.
Its vertically integrated, software-centric model gives it an unusual ability to translate technology into operational capability quickly, while its experience in demanding real-world environments provides a depth of learning that is extremely difficult to replicate.
Europe’s drone makers are raising fast
Tekever is not the most valuable of Europe’s defence drone companies. Munich’s Helsing raised $1.8bn at an $18bn valuation in July.
London’s Uforce is in talks to raise at about $5bn, in a round led by Valor. Cambridge Aerospace, which makes drone interceptors, raised $300m in August. At sea, Kraken Technology became a maritime defence unicorn in July.
Governments are driving the demand. The UK and Ukraine signed a declaration on AI-enabled military capabilities in August.
Europe’s security will increasingly depend on its ability to build technology companies that can innovate at speed, scale industrially and deliver capabilities that respond to real operational needs.
Wallace said that in Tekever’s announcement. Tekever expects the remaining closings of the Series D over the coming months, and Mendes has named acquisitions as one use for the money.
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