Rise Of Europe’s “War Unicorns” As Goldman Maps The Defense-Startup Ecosystem

The “war unicorn” startup boom we pointed out the other week isn’t just an American story. It’s happening across the West, as defense startups built around dual-use technology could become the next hot bubble.

Goldman analysts, led by Sam Burgess, told clients on Tuesday that European defense is seeing a “rise of the startups,” which could reshape an industry long dominated by major defense contractors.

Burgess said there are more than 380 defense tech startups across Europe, and these companies have raised over $3 billion, heavily focused on dual-use areas like AI analytics, autonomy, sensing, cyber resilience, and next-generation communications.

He said these startups are clustered around major innovation hubs in London, Munich, Stockholm, Paris, and Helsinki, backed by early-stage investors and public programs, including the NATO Innovation Fund and the EIF Defense Equity Facility.

Here’s a visual breakdown of the EU defense startups ecosystem:

“Recent conflicts, particularly the war in Ukraine, have underscored the need for rapid technological iteration, multi-domain integration, and a digitally enabled battlefield,” Burgess said.

Burgess’ note is exactly on point and follows our view of the rise of war unicorn startups as big defense primes face an “adapt or die” moment, as the war in Ukraine and a surge in dual-use technologies (drones, ground bots, and AI kill chains) have pushed Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to recently announce a move to accelerate the fielding of this new technology.

Translation: The DoW under Hegseth and the rest of the procurement process are moving away from bloated legacy defense primes toward defense tech startups, creating a boom as we’ve characterized by the rise of war unicorns like Palmer Luckey’s Anduril Industries.

The shift away from big defense primes in the DoW’s procurement process comes as the war in Ukraine has given military planners and strategists an uncomfortable preview of what conflict in the 2030s could look like. It’s not just about expensive stealth jets, bombers, and big, fancy missiles and cannons. It’s about ground robots, drones, and consumer-grade products that can easily be weaponized.

Professional subscribers can read the full note on Europe’s rise of defense startups on our new Marketdesk.ai portal​​​​.