AI drone maker hits $6.4 billion valuation as Ukraine war spurs defense tech

AI drone maker Tekever on Wednesday said it had hit a $6.4 billion valuation, as Europe races to rearm amid the Ukraine war and mounting threats from Russia.The Portuguese-British company, which raised a $580 million round, develops AI-powered autonomous systems including surveillance drones. Tekever says its drones have clocked more than 50,000 operational flight hours in Ukraine since 2022, when Russia's full-scale invasion began.University of California Investments and Baillie Gifford led the round, with Merlyn Advisors, Crescent Cove, Ventura Capital and Iberis Capital also contributing. Tekever said in July that the U.K. Ministry of Defence had selected it to provide surveillance technology under a program worth up to £400 million (around $530 million) over 10 years."Artificial intelligence, autonomy and sovereign technological capability will be fundamental to the security and resilience of democratic societies in the decades ahead," Ricardo Mendes, Tekever's founder and CEO, said in a statement."This investment gives us the resources to move faster, scale further and continue building a global technology leader from Europe."Tekever said it would use the funds to deepen its i...