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.
“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”
“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.