NATO-backed start-up against the trend: - We are not interested in selling

It looks like a familiar trajectory: a Nordic defence tech startup raises capital, secures backing linked to NATO and prepares to scale.

But that reading misses a key shift.

Following its 15 million euro funding round led by the NATO Innovation Fund, Finnish company Kelluu is explicitly rejecting the outcome many companies in its position move towards: being acquired.

- I can say explicity: We are not interested in selling, says co-founder and CEO Janne Hietala.

The statement comes as Kelluu scales its hydrogen-powered airships for persistent surveillance in low-altitude airspace - an area gaining strategic importance as gaps in monitoring, particularly in the Nordic region, draw increasing attention.

The company had - before the recent funding round - raised about 10 million euro in total since the foundation in 2018. Kelluu entered defence in 2022.

Market moving the other way

The CEO's position of uninterest in being acquired stands in contrast to a broader development in the defence sector.

Across Europe, and particularly in the Nordics, smaller technology firms are increasingly becoming targets for acquisition, partnerships and integration into larger defence groups, as earlier reported by Defence Nordic. 

Rather than building capabilities internally, defence primes are turning to specialised companies to accelerate access to sensing, data and space-based technologies.

I can say explicity: We are not interested in selling

Janne Hietala, CEO at Kelluu

The logic is straightforward: faster innovation cycles, commercially validated technologies and reduced integration risk make smaller firms an efficient entry point into new domains.

The result is a market structure where scale is often achieved through consolidation.

Building instead of selling

Hietala recognises this trend and sees strategic partnerships as a completely natural part of entering the defence sector. However, he frames Kelluu’s rejection of acquisition as a function of ambition rather than timing.

- Do we push ourselves to be the infrastructure provider for aerial autonomous platforms within Europe? That’s the plan right now, he says.

The company, which develops hydrogen-powered unmanned airships for persistent surveillance, is positioning itself to expand capacity rather than exit.

- We are building the biggest possible capability because we have something completely unique, he adds.

So, in a defence technology market where smaller firms are increasingly absorbed into larger structures, Finland's Kelluu is making a different bet: that it can scale on its own.