McKinsey Partner’s Drone Firm Stake Spurs Conflict Concerns

A Helsing CA-1 Europa autonomous drone at the Bundeswehr Innovation Center in Erding, Germany, in February.Photographer: Michaela Stache/AFP/Getty Images

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By Ben Scent and James Booth

April 24, 2026 at 12:05 PM UTC

Updated on

April 24, 2026 at 2:03 PM UTC

A top McKinsey & Co. consultant who advises on defense projects around the world has for years owned a personal stake in German military tech startup Helsing.

David Chinn — currently a McKinsey senior partner in Tel Aviv — backed Helsing just months after its founding in early 2021, according to German corporate registry documents. He bought preferred shares of Helsing as part of a capital increase in July that year, investing around the same time as early big backers such as Spotify Technology SA founder Daniel Ek’s investment firm Prima Materia, the filings show.