European defence-focused VC firm Expeditions has led a $10 million pre-seed investment into Twin Prime, a newly launched frontier AI company developing specialised models for defence and security applications.
The funding round also included investment from European defence manufacturer Theon International, alongside American and European venture firms, family offices, and angel investors connected to companies including Palantir, Anduril Industries, and Quorum.
Twin Prime says it’s building AI models designed specifically for defence and national security environments, with a focus on analysing and reasoning across large volumes of sensor data generated by military and security systems. The company said its models are intended to help operators make faster decisions in real time across complex operational environments.
Twin Prime was founded in 2025 by George Lentzas, Stephane Sezer, Drew Calcagno, and Michael Leite-Garcia, a team drawn from AI research, finance, and defence backgrounds. Between them, the founders have worked at organisations including the White House, Google Research, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Columbia University, the Pentagon, and both US and European military institutions.
Mikolaj Firlej, co-founder and general partner at Expeditions, said most AI systems on the market were built for commercial applications rather than defence operations, where software has to work with fragmented sensor feeds and fast-moving conditions.
“Twin Prime is developing models purpose-built for high-stakes environments where size, fusion and speed are critical,” Firlej said. “At a time when most defence prime contractors struggle to integrate advanced AI models, the Twin Prime team presents a clear commercial value not just by retrofitting legacy systems, but transforming their operations.”
Alongside the funding announcement, Twin Prime and Theon said they intend to form a joint venture to develop and deploy bespoke AI systems built on Twin Prime’s models. The companies said the partnership would centre on integrating AI capabilities into Theon’s sensor and defence platforms as part of the company’s wider Theon Next initiative.
The investment comes as European defence investors pour money into AI companies building military and security systems, particularly around autonomous platforms, surveillance, edge processing, and software designed to handle large volumes of battlefield and sensor data.
