Onodrim Raises €268.01 Million at €1.16 Billion Valuation

By Grace Kim

Onodrim closed a €268.01 million ($300 million) Series A at a €1.16 billion ($1.3 billion) valuation, putting the Dutch defence and industrial scale-up platform into unicorn status.

US investment group Lux Capital led the round. General Catalyst and Lakestar also joined, alongside Altimeter, Strike Capital, 137 Ventures, 8090 and Expeditions, among others.

Onodrim had raised a €40.20 million ($45 million) Seed round earlier in 2026 from General Catalyst, Lakestar and Founders Fund, the venture-capital arm of tech billionaire and Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel.

Who founded Onodrim and where does its name come from?

Onodrim was founded in 2026 by Aistis Šimaitis, Alexander Blessing and Christian Garrett.

• Šimaitis is a former adviser to the Lithuanian government and one of Palantir’s first European hires, joining in 2013.
• Alexander Blessing, co-founder and CTO, was a Forward Deployed Engineer at Palantir. He was closely involved in developing and deploying Palantir’s flagship Foundry software platform, which companies and governments use to streamline data and digitise workflows.
• Christian Garrett is a co-founder and Partner at 137 Ventures, an investor in the Series A.

Onodrim, like Palantir, takes its name from The Lord of the Rings: the Elvish term for the tree-like Ents, creatures roused to go to war. The company says the name reflects its mission to wake the sleeping giants of European manufacturing.

“Europe needs a stronger industrial foundation to meet the security challenges ahead. We see an enormous opportunity to bring a new model of ownership and investment to the continent’s most important businesses,” said Brandon Reeves, Partner at Lux Capital.

What does Onodrim buy?

Onodrim acquires controlling stakes in established European defence, aerospace and industrial businesses, particularly small and medium-sized, founder-led family companies.

It then scales them up with permanent capital, technology and business development expertise.

The company encourages existing founders to remain and help grow their businesses as part of the Onodrim group.

Onodrim expects to announce its first acquisitions in the coming months.

Aistis Šimaitis, co-founder and CEO of Onodrim, said: “Europe has no shortage of exceptional companies. The challenge has been access to the resources needed to help them grow at the scale and speed the moment demands.”

He added: “We are bringing permanent capital, technology and world-class operators to Europe’s best companies, giving them the resources to expand, compete and strengthen the continent’s defence industrial base.”

Onodrim said European defence companies have record order backlogs after a sharp rise in military spending following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine over four years ago. It said most struggle to expand capacity fast enough for government orders, creating an opening to close the gap and build European defence sovereignty.

“Our approach at Onodrim is rooted in long-term partnership and collaboration. We believe Europe’s industrial champions are built by investing in great businesses, empowering the people behind them and giving them the resources to grow for the long term,” said Blessing, co-founder and CTO, Onodrim.

Where will the new capital go?

The fresh capital will fund Onodrim’s acquisition programme.

Onodrim is expanding its European presence by opening Onodrim Germany in Munich and Onodrim Italy in Turin. Those units join existing offices in Amsterdam, London and Vilnius.

Onodrim says it has already identified several targets but has declined to name them.

Onodrim has flagged supply-chain bottlenecks in areas including:

• Propulsion systems for drones
• Sensing and radar
• Energetics used in explosives
• Aero-structures

Onodrim expects to announce its first acquisitions in the coming months; those deals will test whether its permanent-capital model can add capacity to Europe’s constrained defence supply chains.