Key takeaways
- Kraken completes Series B €150m raise, becoming defence tech unicorn
- Round led by DTCP with support from Nato Innovation Fund, British Business Bank and VCs
- Unmanned vessels systems already in deployment across conflict zones
Kraken Technology Group, a British maritime defence company developing uncrewed surface and subsurface systems, has raised €152.9 million ($175 million) in a Series B funding round, valuing the company at €874 million ($1 billion), the business reported in July.
Led by Digital Transformation Capital Partners (DTCP), the round includes backing from a long list of investors: the British Business Bank, the NATO Innovation Fund, Rheinmetall, Canada’s Inocea Group and venture capital firms HICO, Thesiger Capital Group, BOKA Capital, Supernova Invest and Hakluyt Capital.
Early backers of the Fareham-based startup, including the NATO Innovation Fund, the UK National Security Strategic Investment Fund, SmartCap, Notion Capital and Speedinvest have converted previous investments into equity as part of this latest financing.
In a statement, the company said the new capital will accelerate development of its uncrewed systems and expand manufacturing, as demand for autonomous defence platforms grows.
The financing follows contracts with the UK Ministry of Defence, NATO European partners and US Special Operations Command where the technology is being deployed in ongoing conflict zones. Kraken is also expanding production through partnerships with Rheinmetall in Germany, Anduril Industries in the United States and Inocea’s Davie Shipbuilding in Canada.
“This significant funding round will accelerate Kraken’s global roll-out, enabling the deployment of hardened, reliable, mission-ready capabilities for NATO and its worldwide partners at an unprecedented scale in the maritime domain,” founder and CEO Mal Crease said.
Ole Aguirre, Partner at DTCP, said “the maritime domain is profoundly under-invested, and Kraken has taken a leading role in bringing affordable, mission-critical high-speed uncrewed vessels to the market in a very short time.”
