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Helsing, the Munich-based AI defence company, has closed a $1.8 billion Series E at an $18 billion valuation, making it Europe's largest defence startup. The round was so oversubscribed that it grew from $1.2 billion to $1.8 billion at the same valuation. Investors put in half a billion dollars more without paying a cent more per share. Helsing builds AI software and hardware for European militaries, fusing data from drones, radar, satellites and cameras into a single real-time battlefield picture while keeping humans in command of critical decisions. Its products include the HX-2 strike drone already deployed in Ukraine, the Altra battlefield software platform and underwater surveillance systems. It has 900 staff across Germany, the UK, France and the Baltics. Three of the largest new investors are JPMorganChase, Goldman Sachs Growth and the CANADA PENSION PLAN. Co-CEO Torsten Reil said in May the company was approximately 80% European-owned, but that was before the round grew by $600 million. But there is a question the article asks directly: can a company this reliant on American capital keep calling itself Europe's sovereign answer? Faustine van den Bosch, Alex Stevenson, Roxana Elena Dumitriu, James Lawson, Jeannette zu Fürstenberg, Anita Szarek, Benjamin Tallis, Ned Baker, George Baxendale, Kadi Silde, Dr. Jan Stoeber, The Rt Hon James Heappey, Torsten Reil Source: TNW