Taylor Wessing advises General Catalyst on USD 450 million Series C financing in AI defence pioneer Helsing

Helsing, the German AI defense pioneer has raised USD 450 million in capital in a Series C financing round. The round was led by General Catalyst, which was comprehensively advised on all legal aspects of the transaction by a Taylor Wessing team led by Berlin-based Corporate / Growth VC partners Dr. Norman Röchert and Dr. Armin Bartsch. The investor consortium included inter alia Accel, Lightspeed, Elad Gil, Plural and Greenoaks. The investment will be used by Helsing for product development and research and development purposes with a particular focus on capabilities to secure European sovereignty including protecting NATO's eastern flank. The financing round is yet subject to government approval.

Founded in Munich in 2021, Helsing develops artificial intelligence to digitally modernize existing weapon systems - fighter jets, submarines and tanks - and adapt them to current military challenges. The start-up has been active in Ukraine since 2022 and works closely with the Ukrainian government there. Since its foundation, Helsing has secured a series of government contracts, including the German Eurofighter Electronic Warfare upgrade (with strategic investor and committed partner Saab AB), the AI infrastructure for the Future Compat Air System (FCAS, with consortium HIS), and a number of classifieds contracts in the maritime and land domain. 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.

The Taylor Wessing team already advised General Catalyst on the USD 223 million Series B funding round in 2023.

Legal Advisers General Catalyst

Taylor Wessing Germany: Lead Dr. Norman Röchert (Partner), Co-Lead Dr. Armin Bartsch (Salary Partner), Felix Paul (Professional Support Lawyer), Christopher Hildebrandt (Senior Associate), Lisa Seidel (Professional Support Lawyer), all Corporate / Growth VC, all Berlin, Nicolas de Witt (Partner), Sandra Baes (Associate), Kenza Maazoun (Associate), all Corporate/M&A, Paris, Michael Brüggemann (Partner, Düsseldorf), Dr. Marco Hartmann-Rüppel (Partner, Hamburg), Malke Kristina Zimmermann (Associate, Düsseldorf), Tim Hendricks (Professional Support Lawyer, Düsseldorf), all FDI, Competition, EU & Trade, Nico Jänicke (Partner, Employment, Pensions & Mobility, Berlin), Evelyne Friedel (Partner, Commercial & competition law), Claudia Jonath (Partner), Laura Berdugo-Donnersbergs (Counsel), Anais Edet (Associate), all Employment, Pensions & Mobility, Paris, Dr. Gregor Schmid (Partner), Dr. Eva Surowiecki (Senior Associate), all Technology, Media & Telecoms, all Berlin, Timo Stellpflug (Partner, Commercial and Contract Law, Hamburg), Dr. Tim Wünnemann (Partner, Commercial & Disputes & Investigations, Berlin), Katrin Isabelle Schultz (Associate, Commercial, Berlin), Dr. Philipp Krusemarck (Salary Partner, Intellectual Property, Munich), Dr. Eugen Reismann (Associate, Patents Technology & Life Sciences, Düsseldorf), Dr. Bert Kimpel (Partner, Düsseldorf), Elnaz Mehrkhah (Senior Associate, Frankfurt), both Tax