In the past, European defence startups had to rely on US investors to grow, which meant capital, talent, and intellectual property often left Europe.
AVP and Earlybird have started E2D, a €500M growth fund that plans to invest about €25M each in around 20 European defence and dual-use tech companies.
The fund is launching as France, Germany, and the EU together commit over €1 trillion to defence spending, marking the biggest change in European security in a generation.
For years, starting a defence or dual-use tech company in Europe usually meant hearing the same thing: the best growth capital came from America. AVP and Earlybird want to change that.
Today, they launched E2D, a €500M growth fund focused on supporting European defence and dual-use tech companies and keeping their capital, talent, and intellectual property in Europe.
