Warsaw-based Expeditions has closed its second fund at €197 million, more than doubling its original €75 million target, as European defence tech continues to draw institutional capital.
The fund will back defence and ‘resilience’ companies across Europe, with at least half of the fund reserved for follow-on investments. Ticket sizes can reach up to €20 million.
Expeditions was founded by Stanislaw Kastory and Dr Mikolaj Firlej and is co-headquartered in Warsaw and London. Its first fund backed 40 companies, including UForce, Orqa, Cambridge Aerospace, Frankenburg Technologies, Orasio, Alpine Eagle, ComandAI, Blackwall, Horizon Quantum and Nu Quantum.
Quoted in Resilience Media, Firlej said the market has moved beyond the first wave of battlefield-focused defence tech.
“The first investment wave in European defence tech was about rebuilding Europe’s arsenal for the battlefield (drones, loitering munitions, air defence systems), while the next wave will be more about security the supply chain and addressing critical capability gaps,” he said.
He added that Expeditions has seen a clear shift since its first fund, having been able to “convince various institutional investors to invest in defence-first companies in Europe.”
Expeditions said its research has identified ten capability gaps across areas including ISR, data fusion, deterrence and industrial manufacturing.
New LPs in Fund II include the European Investment Fund through InvestEU, BAE Systems, Keysight Technologies, the Polish Development Bank, the Kosciuszko Foundation and Our Future Foundation.
Returning LPs include the Polish Development Fund, NATO Innovation Fund and other institutional investors and industrial family offices.
BAE Systems said in a statement that the investment aligns with its Launchpad initiative, which aims to bring early-stage defence technologies closer to deployment.
Patrick Schneider-Sikorsky, partner at NATO Innovation Fund, commented that Expeditions was “addressing a gap” in European defence capital.
The close comes as European governments increase defence spending and seek to reduce reliance on the US.
Expeditions’ first fund has been ranked by Cambridge Associates among the top 0.01% of venture funds globally, according to the firm.
