
Stark Defence is a Berlin-based defence technology company building loitering munitions and autonomous strike systems for European armed forces.
Stark Defence, legally SKD SE, is a Berlin-based defence technology company founded in 2024 that develops one-way effectors and loitering munitions for European armed forces. Its product line spans the VIRTUS long-range eVTOL loitering munition, the man-portable GAMBIT quadcopter, the tube-launched CASCADE effector, the VANTA unmanned surface vessel, and the MINERVA command-and-control software, built around a modular open-systems architecture.
Co-founded by Quantum Systems founder Florian Seibel and Johannes Schaback, and led since October 2025 by CEO Uwe Horstmann, Stark Defence operates across Germany, Ukraine, Sweden, Greece, and the United Kingdom and has secured a €268 million framework contract with the German armed forces that could reach €1 billion. In June 2026 it raised €500 million at a valuation above €3.5 billion, led by Sequoia Capital and Founders Fund with participation from the NATO Innovation Fund, Project A, Air Street Capital, 201 Ventures, Advent, and Döpfner Capital.

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Companies similar to Stark Defence include Stark Drones, ZeroMark, TEKEVER and Shield AI.
Stark Defence was founded in 2024.
Stark Defence's headquarters is located in Berlin, Berlin, DE.
Stark Defence's most recent funding round was for $500M (USD) in June 2026.
As of Jun 23, 2026, Stark Defence has raised a total of $562M (USD).
Stark Defence has 450 employees as of Feb 1, 2026.