The verified answer
As of Sep 2026, DEPLOY verifies Stark Defence: 1 model, 1 deployment across 1 region, $1.1B raised. 3 sources back the record.
CategoryDrones
Overview
Stark Defence is a Berlin-based defense startup building AI-powered attack and kamikaze drones (loitering munitions) for European militaries. Produces the Stark attack drone — a mass-producible loitering munition designed for Rapid deployment. Focus on affordable, scalable autonomous munitions for European defense.
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- 1 deployment on file
- Active incidents
- None on file
Valuation of record
DEPLOY VERIFIEDPriced roundSeries C post-money
Key facts
HQ
Founded
Lead Investorssee investors →
Product
Focus
Data & sources
News coverage
1
Web sources
2
3 sources backing this record.View all →
Models (1)
View all models →Stark Defence on the deployment map
View the global map1 verified deployment across 1 region, newest verified Jan 2027. Explore where Stark Defence's robots are operating, by place and type.
View the full Stark Defence deployment record →
Relationships
Current leadership (3)
- Uwe Horstmann CEO and Co-foundersecondary-verified
- Florian Seibel Co-foundersecondary-verified
- Johannes Schaback Co-founder and CTOsecondary-verified
Founders (3)
- Florian Seibelcofounderno longer at company
previously at Quantum Systems
later founded Quantum Systems
- Johannes Schabackcofounder
- Uwe Horstmanncofounder
Safety record
No incidents on record for Stark Defence.
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Full safety record: incidents, sourcing, and exposure data →
Operator customers (1)
- Stark Defence1 deployment
Recent coverage
Stark Defence in third-party press
German Drone Maker Raises $1.2 Bn As Investors Pile Into Defence - Barron's
Starmer’s defence plan will only work if Britain backs its own drone manufacturers, industry warns - lbc.co.uk
Stark Defence Reportedly Raises €500 Million At €3.5 Billion Valuation - Pulse 2.0
Peers
99 peers across 1 segment. Every Stark Defence competitor derived from shared form-factor and application-domain edges.
drone(99)
57 companies in this segment · moderately_concentrated (HHI 1809.2177305910177) · leader Anduril Industries at 3057%
- AEVEX Aerospacedirect competitor(inferred)strong
- Alta Aresdirect competitor(inferred)strong
- BRINC Dronesdirect competitor(inferred)strong
- Darkhivedirect competitor(inferred)strong
- Dedronedirect competitor(inferred)strong
- Firestorm Labsdirect competitor(inferred)strong
Financial state
- Total funding
- $1.1B
- Employees
- 600
- Reporting basis
- aggregator_estimate
- Lifecycle stage
- mature
- Counterparty risk class
- unknown
Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Funding rounds (2)
Stark Defence’s 2 disclosed rounds, $1.1B in total, oldest to newest.
- Series B2026-06-23
$570M(reported) · $3.7B post
Investors: Sequoia Capital (lead), Founders Fund (co_lead), NATO Innovation Fund (follow)
- Series C2026-06-23
$570M(reported) · $4.0B post
Investors: Sequoia Capital (co_lead), Founders Fund (co_lead), NATO Innovation Fund, Advent International
Timeline
Every recorded move in Stark Defence’s history, most recent first: funding rounds, partnerships, acquisitions, supply-chain starts, key hires, and press.
Funding roundSeries C funding round
2026-06-23Series C raising $570000000
Funding roundSeries B funding round
2026-06-23Series B raising $570000000
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Deployment verifiedVerifiedJan 1, 2027
Stark attack drone (kamikaze/loitering munition) at Lithuania
- Record createdJul 28, 2026
Added to the verified registry
Sources (3)
Common questions
What is Stark Defence?
What does Stark Defence make?
Who competes with Stark Defence?
Who is the CEO of Stark Defence?
Where is Stark Defence headquartered?
How much funding has Stark Defence raised?
Where does Stark Defence operate robots?
How many robots has Stark Defence deployed?
Is Stark Defence a top robotics company?
When was Stark Defence founded?
Is Stark Defence safe?
Methodology: Verified · 3 sources (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-08-22
Verification posture
Verified
Medium confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-08-22
Sources by quality tier
- 2
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
- 1
- secondary-established-publication
- Established publication
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for Stark Defence.Peer companies
- Amazon25 models
- Anduril Industries7 models
- DJI7 models
- Autel Robotics4 models
- Baykar4 models
- Earendil Robotics4 models
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning Stark Defence from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
German Drone Maker Raises $1.2 Bn As Investors Pile Into Defence - Barron's
<a…
Starmer’s defence plan will only work if Britain backs its own drone manufacturers, industry warns - lbc.co.uk
<a…
Stark Defence Reportedly Raises €500 Million At €3.5 Billion Valuation - Pulse 2.0
<a…
Sequoia, Founders Fund Back Defense Drone Startup Stark at $3.65 Billion Valuation - citybiz
<a…
Sequoia and Founders Fund just backed a drone startup Stark whose drones failed: report - Tech Funding News
<a…
Thiel and Sequoia Bet $570M on German Drones - DroneXL
<a…
Drones startup Stark confirms €500m raise backed by Sequoia and Founders Fund - Sifted
<a…
Stark Defence raises EUR500M led by Sequoia and Founders Fund at a valuation above EUR3.5 billion
Berlin-based strike drone startup Stark Defence raised EUR500M at a EUR3.5B valuation.
German defence unicorn Stark seeks €300M raise as Peter Thiel doubles down on Europe's drone arms race - Tech Funding News
<a…
Defence sovereignty: Europe races to build the low-cost weapons of future | Drones (military) - The Guardian
<a…
Europe’s defence startups face even bigger hurdles than America’s - The Economist
<a…
Germany launches €9B strike drone shift led by startups - TURDEF
<a…
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/stark-defence.md
- RSS feed: /companies/stark-defence/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/f4c2b03c-e455-446f-8988-0af6da951780
- Revision history: /companies/stark-defence/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Peer companies
- Amazon25 models
- Anduril Industries7 models
- DJI7 models
- Autel Robotics4 models
- Baykar4 models
- Earendil Robotics4 models
Video
🚁💥 Stark Defense, a Munich-based startup, just raised 14 million euros in a huge Series A led by Sequoia to build autonomous military drones! These AI-power
Industrial Nostalgia playlist → https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvNVFLXC1R5g4wVfThzwsoBeu2K4DSM5B If you’re here for “industrial sci‑fi documentaries”, s
STARK Defence EUROPEAN DEFENCE Rapidly developed. Precise effect. Sovereign. VIRTUS OWE-V Leading-edge loitering munition DESIGNED FOR RAPID, TARGETED, AND P
STARK Defence EUROPEAN DEFENCE Rapidly developed. Precise effect. Sovereign. GAMBIT Drone FOR CLOSE-RANGE RECONNAISSANCE AND PRECISION STRIKES ONE-WAY EFFECT
Keywords podcasting, technology, defense, military, AI, supply chain, procurement, innovation, Stark, warfare Summary In this conversation, Jonas Singer and Ph
“There’s never been a better time to work in defense tech.” Meet Richard Pass from STARK, Director of Strategy and Partnerships, speaking at the London Hackath
In this episode, the Sparkmind Invested team discuss the "Stark Contrast" in Defence investing vs Defence Budget Investing, who is funding and what the TAM of E
More than €1.7 billion of defence-linked capital moved through Europe in a single month. This episode maps how defence technology became the continent's dominan
Heat Index
Category contender75/100
A composite of competitive footprint, funding, press velocity, active partnerships, and supply-chain edges. Different from the Intelligence score below (which is per-form-factor productization). Non-robotics companies cap at 25.
Reality vs attention
Stark Defence draws attention at the 73rd percentile but verifies reality at the 24th percentile among aerial robots. Hype Gap +48.5, 16th widest among aerial robots.
6-month trend
Analysis
Clean safety record across 1 verified deployment. Well-capitalized with $1.1B raised and recent funding activity. Deployment footprint remains limited relative to category peers.
Signal flags
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Sep 11, 2026