Helsing Co-CEO Reil Warns of Defense Tech Bubble in Europe

Torsten Reil, co-chief executive officer of Helsing, says “there is definitely a bubble right now” in defense tech spending. He made the comments during a discussion with Tom Mackenzie at the Bloomberg Tech event in London.Source: Bloomberg

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By Yazhou Sun, Christina Kyriasoglou, and Tom Mackenzie

October 21, 2025 at 2:50 PM UTC

The co-head of Europe’s most valuable defense startup said the industry is in a bubble and some investors are going to lose money.

“There will be consolidation,” Torsten Reil, co-chief executive officer of the German drone company Helsing, said at the Bloomberg Tech Summit in London on Tuesday. Among Europe’s defense startups, he added, “80% of these companies probably won’t make it.”