Daniel Ek
Daniel Ek is the co-founder and CEO of Spotify, the global music streaming platform he launched in 2006. He serves as Chairman of Helsing, a Munich-based AI defense company founded in 2021 that develops battlefield AI software and autonomous combat systems for democratic nations. Ek led Helsing's €100 million Series A in 2021 and its €600 million Series D in 2025 — valuing the company at approximately $12 billion — investing through his firm Prima Materia. He is widely regarded as one of Europe's most influential technology entrepreneurs and a leading backer of European defense-tech amid growing geopolitical pressure on the continent.
“Vlad Tenev, Brian Chesky, Brian Armstrong, Daniel Ek, etc. others are all now doing fully capitalized, fully staffed companies as side projects.”
Source→“Raised $700M Series C at nearly $7 billion valuation, co-led by Lightspeed and OG Venture Partners, with celebrity and tech-titan backing including Mark Zuckerberg”
Source→“Daniel looks at me. He's like, Dara, since when is life about happiness? It's about impact. Uber is a company that has impact on the world.”
Source→“Helsing — European defense AI company; GC portfolio company; cited as evidence of GC's thesis that regional defense primes will emerge across geographies as supply chains fragment”
Source→“We are deeply invested in Helsing in seed. And that's a project that Jeanette and Daniel Ek and Paul Kwan have worked on.”
Source→“We are deeply invested in Helsing in seed. And that's a project that Jeanette and Daniel Ek and Paul Kwan have worked on.”
Source→AI-extracted from podcast / newsletter / paper summaries. May contain errors.