Tekever said on Wednesday it had raised $580 million in the first close of a Series D round at a $6.4 billion valuation, led by University of California Investments and Baillie Gifford, as the Portuguese-British defense company expands its AI-powered autonomous systems business.
Merlyn Advisors joined as a new strategic investor, while existing shareholders Crescent Cove, Ventura Capital and Iberis Capital also participated, Tekever said. According to the company, UC Investments' participation marked its first direct investment in Europe.
Tekever develops AI-powered autonomous systems, including surveillance drones. It describes itself as "shaping the future of Defence and Security through AI-driven autonomy, delivering capabilities that protect lives, infrastructures and nations."
The company said it will use the funding to expand internationally, increase its manufacturing and technology capabilities, pursue acquisitions and accelerate development of AI-powered autonomous systems.
"Artificial intelligence, autonomy and sovereign technological capability will be fundamental to the security and resilience of democratic societies in the decades ahead," founder and CEO Ricardo Mendes said in a statement. "This investment gives us the resources to move faster, scale further and continue building a global technology leader from Europe."
Ben Wallace, a portfolio manager at Merlyn Advisors and a former U.K. defense secretary, said Europe's security will increasingly depend on its ability to build technology companies that innovate at speed, scale industrially and deliver capabilities that respond to real operational needs. "Tekever has a proven track record that shows it can do all three," he said.
The company points to its operational record in Ukraine. Tekever says its autonomous systems have logged more than 50,000 operational flight hours in Ukraine since 2022, and its AR3 platform alone has recorded more than 10,000 hours. The company says frontline feedback led to more than 100 changes to that platform, and that it has expanded its presence in Ukraine through a Kyiv office.
In July, the company said the U.K. Ministry of Defence had selected it to provide surveillance technology under a program worth up to £400 million (around $530 million) over 10 years. Under Project CORVUS, the British Army's long-range intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability, Tekever is to supply its AR5 uncrewed aircraft.
Tekever is one of a number of European defense tech startups raising increasingly sizable rounds amid a rearmament campaign by countries in the region against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and threats from Russia.
What remains open is the rest of the round. Tekever said it expects additional Series D closings over the coming months as it brings in more strategic investors, but it did not specify the size or timing of those closings in its announcements. The $580 million covers only the first close, and the final composition of the round is still to be determined.