Norwegian defense startup Stendr secures $5.4 million in funding.
Stendr, a Norwegian startup focused on counter-drone technology and led by Aleksander Leonard Larsen, who co-founded the blockchain gaming unicorn Sky Mavis, has successfully raised $5.4 million in a highly subscribed pre-seed funding round. This round was co-led by RainFall, ACME, and SkyFall, with additional contributions from Sisyphus, Antler, StartupLab, Off Piste, Andøya Ventures, and a group of international technology entrepreneurs and investors.
Based in Oslo, Stendr is developing an integrated system of hardware, software, and artificial intelligence aimed at drone defense. The company’s CEO and co-founder, Aleksander Leonard Larsen, previously served as co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Sky Mavis, the Norwegian gaming firm that created Axie Infinity, a major blockchain game in the early 2020s. Sky Mavis achieved a valuation of $3 billion in October 2021 following a $150 million Series B investment led by Andreessen Horowitz, establishing itself as one of the few unicorns from Europe in the blockchain gaming industry.
In March 2022, Sky Mavis experienced the largest cryptocurrency hack at that time, executed by North Korea's Lazarus Group, which exploited a flaw in the Ronin Network, the Ethereum sidechain supporting Axie Infinity, resulting in the theft of about $620 million in cryptocurrency. The company compensated the affected users from its own funds and secured an additional $150 million from Binance to mitigate the loss. Larsen reflected on this experience, stating, “After what I’ve witnessed, I no longer take security lightly. Resilience must be proactively managed. That is where I’m focusing my efforts: defense.”
Stendr currently prioritizes counter-drone technology, developing AI-driven multi-sensor systems integrated into cost-effective hardware that can detect, track, and provide situational awareness against inexpensive autonomous drones in operational settings. Larsen framed the issue in the context of the conflict in Ukraine, noting that low-cost commercial drones, which cost only a few hundred dollars, have consistently targeted assets worth millions: “At Stendr, we aim to create technology to locate them, monitor them, and equip defenders with the necessary information to respond, maintaining full sovereignty for Europe.”
This emphasis on sovereignty is intentional, as Europe is increasingly focused on reducing its defense reliance on the United States, making local capabilities a political priority. Additionally, Andøya Ventures, one of Stendr’s investors, is affiliated with Norway’s Andøya Space Centre, highlighting the Nordic region's expanding role in sovereign defense and space infrastructure.
The counter-drone market is rapidly growing within defense technology. According to MarketsandMarkets, the global counter-UAS market is expected to rise from roughly $6.6 billion in 2025 to around $20.3 billion by 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate of approximately 25%. The EU's European Defence Industry Programme, enacted in March 2026 with a €1.47 billion budget for 2026–27, allocates €30 million specifically for the collaborative procurement of integrated counter-drone systems among member nations.
The funds raised in Stendr's pre-seed round will be directed towards advancing the development of its AI multi-sensor technology, enhancing its engineering and hardware capabilities, and facilitating deployment for defense purposes.
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Norwegian defense startup Stendr secures $5.4 million in funding.
Stendr, a startup focused on AI counter-drone technology and co-founded by Aleksander Leonard Larsen from Sky Mavis, has secured $5.4 million in pre-seed funding to develop European sovereign drone defense systems.