List of the 180 largest Defense Tech Venture Capital Investors [2025]

List of 3 large defense tech venture capital investors

Defense tech is a fast-growing sector at the crossroads of national security and advanced innovation. It covers technologies like AI, drones, cybersecurity, and satellite systems, thereof many with dual-use potential in both military and civilian markets. With rising global tensions and increasing defense budgets, governments are actively seeking modern, tech-driven solutions. At the same time, startups now have better access to defense procurement channels than ever before.

1. Keen Venture Partners (Netherlands)

The company Keen Venture Partners is a VC investor specializing in early-stage investments, particularly in the defense technology sector. Founded in 2016, Keen is known for its “radically human” approach, emphasizing strong partnerships with exceptional founders to support their growth journey. The firm focuses on backing innovative companies across Europe, aiming to strengthen the continent’s defense and security capabilities. In January 2025, Keen announced plans to raise a €125 million fund dedicated to defense and security technology startups in Europe, from seed to Series B stages. This fund aims to support 20 to 25 startups, enabling the development of innovative solutions to address pressing geopolitical and security challenges.

2. TLV Partners (Israel)

The VC firm TLV Partners is venture capital firm founded in 2015, specializing in early-stage investments in Israeli startups, with its origin in Tel Aviv. With over $1 billion in assets under management, the firm focuses on sectors such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, developer tools, fintech, and biotech. TLV Partners is known for its hands-on approach, partnering closely with entrepreneurs to build category-defining companies. Among its recent investments in the defense technology sector, TLV Partners backed Quantum Machines, a company developing control systems for quantum computers, which have applications in national security and advanced computing.

3. Exceptional Capital (USA)

Exceptional Capital is a US-based venture capital firm focused on pre-seed and seed-stage investments, with a strong emphasis on defense technology. Known for its hands-on approach, the firm partners closely with founders, providing strategic support and access to a global network to accelerate growth in high-impact sectors such as national security, dual-use technologies, and frontier tech. Over the past two years, Exceptional Capital has expanded its presence in the defense tech space through key investments. In 2024, the firm invested in the Elias Torres Agency, a startup leveraging AI to build next-generation systems for intelligence and security operations.

Picture Source: Unsplash

Included information in our list

Our keyword analysis-based list includes the following general columns:

• Name of the VC fund
• Country of origin
• URL
• E-mail (general)
• Investment focus (if data available)
• Corporate VC (yes/no)The following columns are based on the keyword crawler, which is a Python-based, in-house developed tool that crawls every page for at least 45 seconds to find the respective keywords.
  • total_frequency (e.g.: 542) – total counted occurrences of keywords on the VC website
  • average_keyword_rate (e.g. 0.001) – average rate of keyword occurrences per subpage in relation with total number of words
  • most_common_keyword (e.g. „defense tech“) – keyword that was counted the most often on respective VC website
  • most_common_keyword_frequency (e.g. 528) – number of times the most common keyword was counted
  • sub_url_highest_rate (e.g.https://www.exceptionalcap.com/./team/../exceptional100_2024) – sub url with the highest number of found keywords
  • highest_rate (e.g. 0.001) – highest keyword rate per subpage
  • frequency_per_keyword: {‘defense tech’: 528, ‘national security’: 7} – dictionary of number of keyword occurrences per keyword