Palantir Alumni Raise $300M to 'Awaken' Europe’s Defense Supply Chain

Onodrim, a Dutch startup founded by former Palantir employees, has raised $300 million at a $1.3 billion valuation to buy and expand companies that supply Europe’s defense industry.

The startup plans to take controlling stakes in businesses whose technology has both civilian and military uses.

It will provide capital, technical support, and help win new business as it seeks to increase production capacity.

European defense manufacturers face record order backlogs after governments increased military spending in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Many have struggled to expand production fast enough to fill those orders, while some defense startups are making critical components in-house to reduce their reliance on outside suppliers.

Aistis Šimaitis, Onodrim’s co-founder and chief executive, described the plan as “waking up the sleeping giants of Europe in manufacturing.”

The name, just like Palantir, comes from The Lord of the Rings. Onodrim is an Elvish term for the Ents, the tree-like beings roused to go to war.

Buying Controlling Stakes

Šimaitis said Onodrim aims to serve established defense contractors and newer manufacturers that want to rely on suppliers for more of their production.

He identified drone propulsion, sensors and radar, materials used in explosives, and aircraft structures as areas where supply is constrained.

Onodrim said it had identified several potential investments and declined to disclose their areas of focus.

Many of the businesses Onodrim is looking at are small or midsize family companies still run by their founders, Alexander Blessing, co-founder and chief technology officer, said.

Onodrim wants those founders to stay on and help expand the businesses after acquisition. “We are operators at core,” Blessing said.

Lux Capital led the $300 million round, with existing investors General Catalyst and Lakestar taking part.

Both had backed an earlier $45 million seed round alongside Founders Fund, the venture capital firm founded by Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel.

Šimaitis said Founders Fund was a minority investor with no control.

Šimaitis joined Palantir in 2013 as one of its first hires in Europe.

Blessing helped develop and deploy Foundry, the U.S. company’s software platform for managing data and digitizing workflows.

Christian Garrett of 137 Ventures is Onodrim’s third co-founder and has no operational role.