Portuguese Tekever, European leader in artificial intelligence autonomous systems, has just reached unicorn status by surpassing the appreciation of more than 1.2 billion euros following a new round of funding completely subscribed by current investors, including Ventura Capital, Ballie Gifford, Nato Innovation Fund, Iberis Capital and Criscent.
The announcement of the new financing coincides with the launch of the ambitious “Overmatch” program, which foresees an investment of £ 400 million in the UK over the next five years. This plan aims to transform the British defense industry and ensure that the United Kingdom and its allies remain in the forefront of autonomous technology and artificial intelligence applied to the defense.
The investment will create more than 1,000 qualified jobs, boost the investigation and development of new infrastructure, and expand the production of AR3 and AR5 drones in the UK. The goal is to strengthen the country’s sovereign capacity in state -of -the -art defense systems.
With over 10,000 hours of operational flight in combat scenarios, especially in collaboration with the UK Ministry of Defense and Ukrainian forces, Tekever systems have contributed to the destruction of more than 3 billion pounds in Russian military assets, including sophisticated S-400 air defense systems.
Ricardo Mendes, CEO of Tekever, points out that the future of European defense depends not only on increased investment, but on a deep transformation of the industrial base and the ability to innovate with agility “Tekever experience in Ukraine has shown us that the future of defense is above all, our new program aims to create an innovation ecosystem that allows companies of all dimensions to quickly and climb with the mission with the mission with the mission with the mission with the mission with the mission shared of guaranteeing the future of Europe ”.
Tekever’s investment arises in a growing context of advanced technological solutions in the defense sector, driven by geopolitical instability and the need for rapid and innovative responses to emerging threats.
With this new unicorn status and an unprecedented investment plan, Tekever consolidates itself as the protagonist of the European Deftech sector, reinforcing Portugal’s position on the global map of technological startups and innovation in defense.
With this achievement, Tekever joins the restricted group of Portuguese startups that hit the unicorn brand, alongside Outsystems, Feedzai, Remote, Anchorage Digital, Sword Health and TalkDesk.