Yet another defence tech unicorn with an office in Ukraine: Tekever joins the club

Tekever, a Portuguese provider of AI-driven autonomous systems, today announced the raising of a new funding round. The company doesn’t disclose the amount of money raised but emphasizes that the current round makes Tekever a unicorn—a company with a valuation above $1 billion. The announcement came the same day Quantum Systems also released information about the funding round that made it a unicorn. Both companies have offices in Ukraine.

Tekever received funding from its existing investors, including round leader Ventura Capital, Baillie Gifford, the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF), Iberis Capital, and Crescent Cove. According to the company, the round fuels its continued expansion across Europe as it pursues global leadership in AI-driven autonomous defence and security. In the next 5 years, Takever plans to invest £400 million in Overmatch, its development program for the UK. 

The company emphasises that during three years of frontline innovation in partnership with the UK Ministry of Defence and Ukrainian forces, Tekever’s systems have accumulated over 10,000 combat flight hours and contributed to the destruction of over £3 billion worth of Russian military assets — including two of Russia’s advanced S-400 air defence systems. 

Ricardo Mendes, CEO of Tekever, commented: “Tekever’s experience deploying autonomous systems in Ukraine has shown us that the future of defence is about agility more than anything. That’s why we are launching our new strategy focused on establishing a defence innovation ecosystem that empowers companies of all sizes to innovate at pace and scale with the shared mission of securing the future of Europe.”

Previously, Defender reported that Tekever is opening a representative office in Ukraine to enhance frontline support and drive innovation in defence technologies. Since 2022, the company has been actively collaborating with the Ukrainian military in reconnaissance, surveillance, detection, and targeting. 

With the support of Ukraine’s Ministry of Strategic Industries, the company plans to expand its local team, grow its engineering, service, and R&D infrastructure in Ukraine, and establish new training centers to boost the effectiveness of joint operations with Ukrainian partners.