The €500 million fund aims to accelerate European defence innovation by backing growth-stage companies with capital, industrial partnerships and strategic support.
Earlybird and AVP are pleased to welcome Airbus Defence and Space as the anchor investor in E2D, the €500 million dual-use and defence technology growth fund the two firms launched last month.
The fund is also announcing its first investment in French-headquartered Alta Ares, a company developing AI-powered hardware and agnostic software for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR) and counter-unmanned aerial systems (UAS) missions.
This follows a recently signed MOU between Airbus Defence and Space and Alta Ares to co-develop and integrate next-generation European counter-drone solutions into Airbus’ battle management suite.
E2D is a new dual-use and defence technology growth fund jointly owned and advised by AVP and Earlybird with a target size of €500 million. It was established to back the next generation of European technology champions across space, air, land, maritime and subsurface domains, targeting around 20 companies at an average ticket size of approximately €25 million.
Providing capital at scale, it funds the next wave of technological innovation created by European growth-stage companies, fosters new technology adoption across the continent’s armed forces and strategic industries, and thus supports European sovereignty and economic growth.
Airbus Defence and Space’s commitment as anchor LP underscores the growing conviction among European industrial and defence leaders that dual-use innovation is essential to closing capability gaps and reinforcing continental sovereignty.
“Airbus’s Defence and Space’s commitment as anchor LP brings E2D closer to the operators and industrial primes our portfolio companies need to scale. Alta Ares is exactly the kind of business we set out to support: agile, mission-focused, and already delivering for European armed forces,” said Roland Manger, Co-Founder of Earlybird.
“Welcoming Airbus Defence and Space as anchor LP is a strong vote of confidence in E2D’s mission, and a clear signal that Europe’s industrial leaders are ready to back the growth-stage companies that will close our capability gaps. Alta Ares’s rapid progress from the battlefield to the boardroom is precisely the kind of European deep tech story we want to invest in,” added Benoit Fosseprez, General Partner at AVP.