The British government wants to modernise its military, sparking a gold-rush mood among young European drone makers. From Quantum Systems in Gilching, to Munich-based Helsing and Arx Robotics, Berlin’s Stark Defence, and Portugal’s Tekever, all have raised multimillion-euro investments from venture capitalists in recent years and are now setting their sights on the UK market.
For makers of unmanned combat systems, the opportunities across the Channel are especially enticing. „The UK is one of the few countries in Europe and NATO that has formally committed to a strategic shift toward unmanned and autonomous systems“, says Vito Tomasi, a former Royal Marines officer who recently became head of Quantum Systems’ new UK subsidiary. The drone startup, founded in 2015, plans to invest up to 50 million euros in Britain over the next five years, establishing service, support, training, and logistics centers modeled on its operations in Ukraine.
Other military drone startups are also putting significant capital to work. Arx Robotics, which develops ground drones, intends to invest a similar sum in a factory in southwest England, creating 90 jobs. Stark Defence, which has raised about 100 million dollars so far, plans to channel funds into its German production and a new facility in Swindon, Wiltshire.
Some are planning even larger bets: Helsing is budgeting more than 400 million euros for an underwater-drone plant in Plymouth, while Portugal’s Tekever is spending roughly 460 million euros on a surveillance-drone factory in Swindon that promises over 1,000 new jobs. Tekever, like Arx and Stark funded in part by NATO, only reached unicorn status in May. Non-European defense startups such as US-based Anduril have also voiced plans to expand into Britain.
