Digital Transformation Capital Partners (DTCP) is on track to raise what would be Europe’s largest dedicated venture capital fund for defence startups, targeting €500m, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The German investor, which was spun out of Deutsche Telekom around a decade ago, has secured commitments from anchor investors, Managing Partner Thomas Preuss told Bloomberg, and is seeking a final close of €500m for the Luxembourg-domiciled fund.
Porsche Automobil Holding SE and Deutsche Telekom are among the anchor backers and are awaiting regulatory approval for holdings of between 25.1% and 49.9% in the fund, according to filings made in December with Germany’s competition authority.
The fund reportedly plans to make around 30 investments, with an average cheque size of €20m, focusing on European digital defence infrastructure and early-stage companies operating across cybersecurity, robotics, unmanned systems, connectivity, data centres, materials, and supply chains, Preuss said.
Around 20% of the fund’s capital will be allocated to purely military technologies, including weapons systems, with the remainder targeting dual-use businesses with both civilian and defence applications.
