Well, seems the Europeans are getting super serious about investing in their defense.
Yesterday, Sifted reported that Earlybird Ventures is teaming up with Paris-based AVP (the artist formerly known as AXA Venture Partners) to raise a €500M fund focused on defense. The reported raise comes just a few weeks after Earlybird announced that it’s closed a €360M Fund VIII.
If this new one closes, this would be one of the largest defense-focused funds in Europe.
Build up: Don’t think we need to remind anyone out there that Europe is, like, very focused on defense right now, what with the Ukraine of it all.
- Europe is in the middle of its biggest military buildup in decades. European military spending rose 14 percent in 2025 to $864B, faster than at any time since 1953, according to SIPRI.
- Defense spending as a share of GDP is climbing fast. EU countries averaged around 2.1 percent of spending on defense in 2025.
- VC money is pouring into defense tech. Defense, security, and resilience startups in Europe raised a record $8.7B in 2025, up 55 percent from the year prior and nearly 4x 2020 levels, according to a report by Dealroom and the NIF.
Red hot: So, basically, Earlybird and AVP are stepping into, like, the hottest market ever.
- It’s interesting to note that neither company is traditionally a defense tech VC—Earlybird skews more deep tech (with some gaming and software thrown in there), and AVP is more on the software (fintech, etc.) side of things.
- Earlybird has been around for ages, in defense tech terms. The fund was founded back in 1997 in Berlin and has invested in companies like Isar Aerospace, Peak Games, and German fintech startup N26. They’ve reportedly got about €2.5B AUM.
- AVP is newer—the fund started (backed by French insurance and asset management giant AXA) back in 2016, and also reportedly has about €2.5B AUM. They’ve invested in everyone from Defense Unicorns, to Odoo, to Blockstream (a bitcoin infrastructure company).
Everyone loves a partnership on the tech and hardware side of the house, but they’re, like, way less common for funds. Dare we say that our VC friends might be learning to play nicely?