A British defence firm founded only two years ago has attained a valuation of £2.5bn ($3.4bn), following a funding round which makes it one of the most valuable startups in the UK.
Defence secretary Wes Streeting called the multi-billion valuation “a great vote of confidence” in Britain that would continue to put the UK “at the forefront of defence innovation”.
The most recent funding round for Cambridge was only in April of this year - the current one marks an increase in overall valuation of well over double since then.
Part of the reason for the rapid increase has been a series of Ministry of Defence contracts earned by Cambridge Aerospace, providing their interceptors for the UK Armed Forces.
The company employs more than 250 workers it describes as highly skilled or in engineering roles, while outside of Britain it operates in other European nations including Germany and Ukraine, as well as Australia.
Seb Johnson, tech business writer and founder of Scaling Europe, noted Cambridge Aerospace is one of three UK-based defence firms to have hit unicorn status - valuations of $1bn or more - in 2026, with the UK having previously had zero. Uforce and Kraken Technology Group are the others.
In May of this year, the government - then under Keir Starmer - signed deals to provide contracts worth up to £4m to 13 different businesses to work with the MoD, as part of a wider scheme to help startups and SMEs progress to unicorn status and aid wider economic growth in key industries.
Cambridge Aerospace was not listed as one of the firms awarded contracts on that occasion.
Professor Steven Barrett, an aerospace engineer, is the chief executive of the firm. “By bringing together the best talent in the world with a singular mission to protect Allied skies from threats we have achieved a huge amount already,” he said. “The addition of these funds will allow us to continue to scale our manufacturing and our delivery to meet the pace of threats, and the needs of Allied nations.”
Grant Shapps was formerly the chair of the firm but stepped down in June having breached rules on ex-ministers’ business appointments. Mr Barrett says Cambridge have “no plans to appoint anyone new” as a replacement and that Mr Shapps’ “role was only ever titular in nature”.
Mr Streeting added: “This valuation is a great vote of confidence in Britain. Cambridge Aerospace’s Skyhammer is an example of the low-cost interceptor missiles our Armed Forces need to deter adversaries and keep our country safe.
“It is exactly what our unicorn scheme is designed to create – British start-ups scaling into billion-pound companies, creating skilled jobs, cementing the UK’s position at the forefront of defence innovation.”