American VC firm Lockheed Martin Ventures is expanding its reach to European markets in order to invest its €874 million ($1 billion) fund in promising DefenceTech companies from across the continent The firm will also be opening a London office with the goal of investing at least €87 million ($100
David Cendon Garcia
American VC firm Lockheed Martin Ventures is expanding its reach to European markets in order to invest its €874 million ($1 billion) fund in promising DefenceTech companies from across the continent
The firm will also be opening a London office with the goal of investing at least €87 million ($100 million) of its funding in the United Kingdom and Europe.
“We are reaching even deeper into the investing ecosystem, meeting our potential partners where they are,” says Chris Moran, vice president and general manager, Lockheed Martin Ventures. “Our presence will help us seize opportunities for investing earlier in the startup lifecycle, ensure technical interoperability with existing platforms, and better support our allied customers.”
Lockheed Martin Ventures’ plan to deploy part of its investment capacity in Europe comes amid substantial financing activity across the continent’s DefenceTech, dual-use, unmanned-systems and sovereign-intelligence sectors.
EU-Startups’ has seen more than €1.086 billion raised by nine relevant companies, with €1 billion of that total coming from Quantum Systems’ Series D; the other disclosed rounds together account for approximately €86.3 million.
UK-based comparators include London’s SatVu and Occam Industries and Bristol’s Uplift360, making the United Kingdom – where Lockheed Martin Ventures intends to establish its European office – a visible part of this funding pipeline.
“We are looking to invest in technologies that complement the company’s national security capabilities and help advance solutions to meet current and future customer mission needs, while further strengthening the transatlantic defense industrial base,” adds Dan Tenney, senior vice president of Global Business Development and Strategy. “We expect our investment strategy to evolve as technologies emerge and the startup environment matures in markets where we do business around the world.”
Founded in 2007 with initial funding of €87 million ($100 million), Lockheed Martin Ventures is the investment arm of the American aerospace and defence company Lockheed Martin. Since its founding it has matured 60 companies to become suppliers.
To date, it has invested more than €437 million ($500 million) in more than 120 companies. Over the past two years alone, 25 companies have been added to the portfolio.
Apart from capital, Lockheed Martin Ventures provides portfolio companies with access to resources such as their engineering talent, technologies and research, and the full suite of Lockheed Martin’s business and technical expertise.
The focus on European innovation follows the largest boost in available capital in the fund’s history, when the company announced in April that it would boost investment capacity from €349 million ($400 million) to €874 million ($1 billion).
Using a portion of that enhanced funding capacity, Lockheed Martin Ventures Europe will accelerate the insertion of new technologies into DefenceTech – part of the company’s commitment to strengthen the transatlantic defence industrial base.
The firm says that they have already invested in a number of European companies, the full list can be found here.
