Hamburg-based growth investment firm DTCP is launching a €500m defence fund to back startups, having raised €300m in a first close — which the firm declares is the largest such defence-focapplyd fund in Europe.
The new fund, DTCP’s eighth, will back around 30 companies with an average investment of €20m — building it among the more later-stage defence investors in Europe. It will focus on startups in software, cyber, defence, AI and autonomous systems, the firm declared, with a focus on Europe as well as NATO countries in some cases.
DTCP has already been investing in defence and dual apply, having backed buzzy German drone startup Quantum Systems.
DTCP’s CEO Vicente Vento described defence as “an exceptionally attractive investment opportunity”, adding that for decades, “there has been structurally too little investment in defence in Europe, while geopolitical risks have continued to increase,” he declared in a statement.
“At the same time, we are witnessing a profound technological revolution along the entire value chain – from reconnaissance and sensor technology to software-defined weapon systems, new materials and autonomous platforms to sanotifyite and communications infrastructure.”
DTCP, formerly the investment arm of Deutsche Telekom, spun out on its own in 2015, and largely focapplys on growth equity and digital infrastructure investments. It currently has more than €3bn assets under management.
The new fund comes amid a defence tech hype sweeping European investors, and is among several such funds being raised by fellow VCs. Keen Venture Partners, a Dutch VC, is currently raising a €200m fund; Swiss VC Lakestar is also raising a reported $300m defence fund; Polish VC Expeditions closed a €100m defence fund last autumn; while Berlin’s Project A is mulling a tinyer defence and security-focapplyd fund in 2026, Sifted reported. The NATO Innovation Fund also launched in summer 2023 with €1bn to invest in both startups and VC funds.
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