German AI defence company Helsing raises USD 223 (€209) million in capital in a Series B funding round. The round was led by General Catalyst, which was comprehensively advised by a Taylor Wessing team led by Berlin-based VC partner Dr Norman Röchert on all legal aspects of the transaction. Swedish heavy industry and defence group Saab also participated in the round as a strategic investor, as did Daniel Ek’s Prima Materia and La Famiglia. The investment makes Helsing Europe's largest defence AI company.

Founded in Munich in 2021, the Helsing develops artificial intelligence to digitally modernise existing weapons systems - fighter jets, submarines and tanks - and adapt them to current military challenges. Heising's AI platform primarily uses the more efficient use of real-time data for this purpose. For example, together with partner Saab, Heising enabled the Eurofighter for electronic warfare on behalf of the German government. The software expertise of the defence company was also in demand for the development of the AI infrastructure for the Future Combat Air System this summer. Thanks to numerous cooperations at the highest political and industrial levels, the defence start-up quickly advanced to become one of the leading European defence technology companies.

General Catalyst invests in companies from seed to growth stage with technologies that have the potential to become global brands. Current portfolio companies include Airbnb, Stripe, HubSpot, Snap, Gusto, Warby Parker, Oscar, Deliveroo and Lemonade.

Legal advisors General Catalyst
Taylor Wessing Germany: Lead Dr. Norman Röchert (Partner, Venture Capital, Berlin), Co-lead Dr. Armin Bartsch (Salary Partner, Venture Capital, Berlin), Christopher Hildebrandt (Senior Associate, Venture Capital, Berlin), Felix Paul (Professional Support Lawyer,) all Venture Capital, all Berlin, Dr. Marco Hartmann-Rüppel (Partner), Michael Brüggemann (Partner, Düsseldorf), Malke Kristina Zimmermann (Associate, Düsseldorf), Tim Hendricks (Professional Support Lawyer, Düsseldorf), all Competition, EU & Trade, Nico Jänicke (Partner, Berlin), Dr. Thomas Hohe (Associate, Berlin), Sophie Burmeister (Associate, Frankfurt), all Employment, Pensions & Mobility, Dr. Bert Kimpel (Partner, Düsseldorf), Elnaz Mehrkhah (Senior Associate, Frankfurt), both Tax, Dr. Gregor Schmid (Partner), Dr. Timm Düwel (Associate) Dr. Eva Surowiecki (Senior Associate, Berlin), all Technology, Media & Telecoms, all Berlin, Timo Stellpflug (Partner), Alessa Steigertahl (Senior Associate) both Commercial and Contract Law, both Hamburg) Dr. Tim Wünnemann (Partner, Disputes & Investigations, Berlin), Dr. Alexander Rubusch (Salary Partner, Intellectual Property, Düsseldorf), Dr. Eugen Reismann (Associate, Patents Technology & Life Sciences, Düsseldorf), Katrin Isabelle Schultz (Associate, Commercial, Berlin)