Lockheed Martin is expanding the reach of its venture capital fund to support development of promising defence technologies in British and European markets.
Lockheed Martin Ventures, the company’s $1 billion startup investment arm, is opening a London office with the goal of investing at least $100 million of its funding in the UK and Europe.
“We are reaching even deeper into the investing ecosystem, meeting our potential partners where they are,” said Chris Moran, vice president and general manager, Lockheed Martin Ventures.
“Our presence will help us seize opportunities for investing earlier in the startup lifecycle, ensure technical interoperability with existing platforms, and better support our allied customers.”
In April the company announced it would boost investment capacity from $400m to $1bn.
“We are looking to invest in technologies that complement the company’s national security capabilities and help advance solutions to meet current and future customer mission needs, while further strengthening the transatlantic defense industrial base,” said Dan Tenney, senior vice president of global business development and strategy.
“We expect our investment strategy to evolve as technologies emerge and the startup environment matures in markets where we do business around the world.”
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The world’s largest aerospace and defence company says the investments will help increase the resilience of its supply chain.
Lockheed Martin Ventures was founded in 2007 with initial funding of $100m. To date, it has invested more than $500m in more than 120 companies, including several in European markets.
Over the past two years alone, 25 companies have been added to the portfolio.