TL;DR
Dutch defense startup Destinus is seeking €200 million at a valuation of more than €5 billion ahead of a planned IPO in Amsterdam, Bloomberg reports.
Destinus, the Netherlands-based defense startup that makes cruise missiles and autonomous drones, is in talks to raise approximately €200 million ahead of a planned initial public offeringBloomberg reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The company is seeking a valuation in excess of €5 billion based on expected annual revenues of approximately €500 million.
Founded in 2021 by Mikhail Kokorich, a Russian-born physicist and serial entrepreneur who renounced his Russian citizenship in 2024 in protest against the war in Ukraine, Destinus has grown from a hypersonic aviation research project to one of Europe’s largest defense industrial companies. The startup employs 750 engineers and specialists in production facilities in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Ukraine, and manufactures more than 2,000 cruise missile systems a year.
The company’s product portfolio focuses on Ruta, a cruise missile system that has been validated and operationally deployed by the Ukrainian armed forces since 2023. In early 2026, Destinus introduced the Ruta Block2, capable of carrying a payload of 250 kilograms with a range of up to 450 kilometers. The lineup also includes the Hornet interceptor drone, which is currently being tested by the French military, and longer-range autonomous strike platforms in development.
Destinus has raised almost €400 million to date, including €140 million in convertible instruments and shareholder loans, and a €50 million financing facility from Commerzbank secured in December 2025, the company’s first commercial bank credit facility. Last year, it agreed to acquire Swiss autonomous pilot startup Daedalean for $225 million, one of Europe’s largest defense technology acquisitions, to strengthen its artificial intelligence and autonomous flight capabilities.
The most significant recent development is a joint venture with Rheinmetall, Germany’s largest defense contractor. Rheinmetall Destinus Strike Systems, announced in April, will manufacture, market and deliver cruise missiles and ballistic rocket artillery, with operations planned for the second half of 2026. Rheinmetall owns 51%, Destinus 49%. The partnership combines Destinus’ platform design and engineering with Rheinmetall’s industrial capability for qualification and series production, a model designed to bridge the gap between European defense demand and the continent’s limited manufacturing base.
The pre-IPO raise, if completed, would position Destinus to list on the Amsterdam stock exchange. The global defense technology sector is attracting capital at an extraordinary rate: US-based Anduril raised $5 billion at a $61 billion valuation last week. In Europe, Munich-based Helsing is raising $1.2 billion at a valuation of $18 billion.which would make it one of the five most valuable private technology companies on the continent. Quantum Systems became Germany’s first defense technology unicorn last year. Venture capital in defense technology reached a record $49.1 billion globally in 2025, almost double the previous year.
Destinus’ target valuation of €5 billion with a 10x revenue multiple is aggressive, but not out of line with current sector pricing. Helsing’s latest round carries about 15 times projected revenue. Anduril’s valuation implies a similar premium. The multiples reflect investors’ belief that European defense spending, driven by the war in Ukraine, rising tensions with Russia and the EU’s ReArm Europe plan to mobilize up to €800 billion over four years, will sustain demand for autonomous attack systems at volumes that traditional defense contractors are not equipped to deliver quickly enough.
Kokorich’s background adds credibility and complexity. Before Destinus, he founded Russia’s first private space company, Dauria, in 2011, then emigrated to the United States in 2012, where he founded satellite companies Astro Digital and Momentus. Momentus raised more than $100 million and was valued at $4 billion before the SPAC merger. In 2021, Kokorich moved to Europe and founded Destinus. Its ability to create and capitalize on technology companies across geographies is well established. His Russian origin, despite having renounced citizenship, remains a due diligence consideration for defense-focused investors, although it has not prevented partnerships with Rheinmetall, Thales or the Ukrainian military.
The European defense technology ecosystem is expanding beyond the handful of unicorns that have dominated the headlines. Norwegian counter-drone startup Stendr launched a pre-seed round last week. The EU’s European Defense Industry Programme, adopted in March 2026 with a budget of €1.47 billion, dedicates specific funds to the acquisition of drones. The sector is moving from corporate-backed prototyping to industrial-scale production, and Destinus, with its Rheinmetall joint venture, its annual missile production of 2,000 units, and its operational history in Ukraine, is positioning itself as a company that has already made that transition.
Whether the IPO materializes and at what valuation will depend on whether public market investors share the conviction that private equity has demonstrated. European defense stocks have risen since 2022, but the IPO pipeline for defense technology startups remains thin. Destinus would be among the first to test whether the private market valuations that have made Helsing and Anduril headlines translate into public market prices. The €200 million pre-IPO round is designed to answer that question with as much momentum as possible.
