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Onodrim Raises $300M Series A Led by Lux to Buy European Defense Firms
Palantir alumni's buy-and-build startup hits a $1.3B valuation before closing its first acquisition.
Amsterdam-based Onodrim Industries, a startup that acquires and scales established European defense and industrial manufacturers, has raised $300 million in a Series A round led by Lux Capital at a $1.3 billion valuation, the company announced Monday.
New and existing investors General Catalyst, Lakestar, Altimeter, Strike Capital, 137 Ventures, 8090 and Expeditions, among others, also took part. The round follows a seed round earlier this year that the company puts at $45 million. TNW reported that seed as €40 million, led by Founders Fund, Lakestar and General Catalyst in February, which places the Series A roughly nine months later.
A Palantir-Trained Founding Team
Onodrim was co-founded by CEO Aistis Šimaitis, a former advisor to the Lithuanian government and technology leader at Palantir Technologies who holds a DPhil from the University of Oxford, and CTO Alexander Blessing, a former Forward Deployed Engineer at Palantir with degrees from Stanford University and the University of Cambridge. Christian Garrett, a partner at 137 Ventures, is also a co-founder.
Controlling Stakes, Permanent Capital
Rather than building hardware from scratch, Onodrim buys controlling stakes in established businesses in aerospace, defense and industrial manufacturing, holds them with permanent capital and applies technology and operational expertise to speed their growth. It is targeting dual-use companies that address bottlenecks in Europe's defense supply chain. No acquisitions have been announced yet; the company expects to name its first deals in the coming months.
“Europe has no shortage of exceptional companies,” Šimaitis said, adding that the challenge has been access to the resources needed to help them grow at the scale and speed the moment demands. Blessing said the company's approach is “rooted in long-term partnership and collaboration.”
New Offices in Munich and Turin
The capital will fund acquisitions and expansion across Europe. Onodrim is opening offices in Munich, as Onodrim Germany, and Turin, as Onodrim Italy, adding to its existing bases in Amsterdam, London and Vilnius. According to TNW, the company is hiring engineers and inviting owners of defense, aerospace and manufacturing firms who may want to sell to get in touch.
Lux Capital partner Brandon Reeves framed the bet around security: “Europe needs a stronger industrial foundation to meet the security challenges ahead.” General Catalyst President and Managing Director Jeannette zu Fürstenberg pointed to the incumbents Onodrim plans to buy, saying “Europe's established manufacturers already have the expertise, customers, and trust.”
Why It Matters
A $300 million Series A is unusually large for a company that has not yet closed an acquisition. Investors are underwriting the team and the model, not an operating portfolio, which puts pressure on Onodrim to show in the coming months that it can source, buy and improve real businesses.
The strategy also marks a different route into European defense tech. Instead of funding new hardware startups that must win procurement contracts from scratch, Onodrim is betting that existing manufacturers with established customers can grow faster with fresh capital and software-driven operations. Its focus on dual-use suppliers and supply-chain bottlenecks targets the less visible layers of the industrial base rather than headline weapons programs.
The investor roster, with Lux leading and General Catalyst, Lakestar and Altimeter following, shows large venture firms are willing to back a buy-and-build model built on controlling stakes and permanent capital. How the first acquisitions perform will test whether that crossover works.