The much-anticipated defense tech rollup era is in full swing, even on the other side of the pond.
This morning, German defense tech darling Helsing, one of Europe’s most valuable startups, announced that it has acquired Blue Ocean, an Australian underwater drone company, to accelerate the development of its unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) program.
Looks like Helsing is truly on a mission to prove it’s really the Anduril of Europe, especially on the M&A front.
On a roll(up): First, a bit of background on Europe’s defense tech behemoth. Helsing was founded back in 2021 by Torsten Reil, Gundbert Scherf, and Niklas Köhler, who set out to build software for defense. But the company has moved into the hardware game in recent years, aided by some strategic acquisitions and (technical term) a shit ton of cash.
Back in June, the company raised a cool $691M led by Spotify and Prima Materia’s Daniel Ek, bringing Helsing’s total funding to $1.6B and its valuation near $14B. Then, it bought German aircraft manufacturer Grob for an undisclosed amount, which set the stage for the dramatic unveiling of an unmanned fighter concept called the CA-1 Europa last month.
The company also unveiled a strike drone called HX-2 earlier this year, which it reportedly developed alongside Ukrainian drone company Terminal Autonomy.
Dive deep: This isn’t Helsing’s first dip in the ocean. In May, Helsing introduced its own maritime autonomy vertical, including:
- SG-1 Fathom: An autonomous underwater glider drone capable of swarming and multi-month endurance that can process acoustic and sonar data.
- Lura: An embedded acoustic AI system that detects subs and maps seafloor activity.
Both the UUV and Lura were developed by a team comprising Helsing, Blue Ocean (yes, the same Blue Ocean), Ocean Infinity, and QinetiQ. That partnership, announced in April, combined Helsing’s “expertise in AI-powered defence technology” with Blue Ocean’s UUV tech, including its LOCUS autonomous underwater glider. Considering Helsing’s UUV program is centered around LOCUS plus Lura, it makes sense that Helsing would want to buy up their Aussie friend and bring the tech under their ever-growing umbrella.
But don’t take our word for it: Blue Ocean said the acquisition followed a year-long “highly collaborative partnership, which included the integration of Helsing’s LURA AI with Blue Ocean’s LOCUS AUV, resulting in the AI-enabled glider SG-1.”
Feeling blue: In a statement, Helsing said that the acquisition of Blue Ocean will “speed up Helsing’s plans for AI-powered autonomous systems.”
“Blue Ocean has been a key partner for us over the last 12 months and as we seek to significantly strengthen our maritime offer to Europe and AUKUS it makes sense for us to join forces,” Helsing’s Maritime GM Amelia Gould added. “Together we can offer customers a unique blend of domain expertise, rapid innovation and advanced technology.”