Tekever Chases €500 Million in Fresh Funding at a €5.5 Billion Valuation, Cementing Its Unicorn Status
Portuguese drone maker Tekever is in talks to raise up to €500 million in a round that could value it at €5.5 billion, one of the country's most valuable private firms. The figures are in-negotiation, amid a surge of investment into European defence tech.
Tekever, the Portuguese drone maker that has become the country's most prominent home-grown technology champion, has opened talks on a new funding round that could value it at €5.5 billion — a figure that would place it among Portugal's most valuable private companies. The Lisbon-founded firm is in negotiations with investors to raise up to €500 million, according to reports on Thursday in the technology and business press, including ECO, Jornal de Negócios and Tek.
The numbers come with an important caveat: the round is not closed, and the €500 million target and €5.5 billion valuation are in-negotiation figures that could shift before any deal is signed. But even as a marker of ambition they are striking. Tekever is counted among this year's crop of new European "unicorns" — privately held companies valued above €1 billion — and is the sole Portuguese name on that list.
Tekever's rise has been built on defence and surveillance work far beyond Portugal's borders. Last year the company announced plans to invest £400 million producing drones in the United Kingdom over five years through a programme known as OVERMATCH. The UK Ministry of Defence selected Tekever to supply a new surveillance capability for the British armed forces, built around its AR5 drone — an aircraft the company describes as "combat-proven in Ukraine" — in a programme it says will create hundreds of highly skilled British jobs over a decade. Tekever also holds contracts with the UK Home Office and the European Maritime Safety Agency for coastal and maritime surveillance, and in July it won a tender from Portugal's National Maritime Authority to supply drones to the Polícia Marítima.
The fundraising lands amid a surge of investment into Europe's defence-technology sector, driven by the war in Ukraine and pressure on NATO members to rebuild their armed forces. The scale of that money is best measured against Tekever's German rivals: in July alone, Quantum Systems raised $1.2 billion and Helsing $1.8 billion — sums that dwarf Tekever's target and show how quickly the sector is being capitalised. Tekever is also a finalist, alongside Anduril, BAE Systems and Thales, in the NYX project to develop drone "wings" for Apache helicopters, a contest with a budget of roughly €11.5 million.
For Portugal, a €5.5 billion valuation would be a rare and conspicuous technology success, and a source of national pride in a sector where the country has few global players. Yet Tekever's centre of gravity increasingly straddles borders, with manufacturing, jobs and research spread across Portugal, the UK and France. The company's challenge — and the question hanging over any new investment — is whether it can keep enough of that value, and those high-skilled jobs, anchored at home while it scales to compete with far larger and better-funded European rivals.
