AIX invests in defence-AI company Helsing, sees ByteDance stake grow 20% in first month, and hints at major LLM investment

Pengana Capital Group has announced that its AI Private Opportunities Trust (ASX: AIX), has deployed more than one-third of its portfolio in its first month, including a new investment in European defence-AI company, Helsing, which comprises approximately 5% of AIX's portfolio.

Helsing builds AI software and autonomous systems, and this year completed the largest private defence-technology funding round in European history - raising US$1.8 billion at a US$18 billion valuation, making it among the most valuable defence businesses in Europe.

AIX also reported that one of its larger holdings, ByteDance, has had its valuation written up by approximately 20%, based on ByteDance's strong financial performance and the value of shares being traded on the secondary market.

This represents a strong early win for AIX, which acquired ByteDance at a valuation around US$450 billion, materially below secondary-market activity in the company's shares, which were valued at US$550 billion in February 2026.

In its announcement to market, AIX hinted at an investment in one of the major LLM companies, saying it will be "…a significant part of the Trust's portfolio and has been acquired at what we believe is a very attractive price". The identity of the company is expected to be disclosed to unitholders in the coming days.

AIX said it is actively pursuing exposure to another major LLM company, but said "…we remain disciplined in our pursuit and will only purchase interests at valuations that we believe would provide attractive upside to AIX unitholders".

Russel Pillemer, CEO of Pengana Capital Group, said AIX is well placed to deploy capital over the coming months, in line with the plan set out in the PDS. "More than a third of the portfolio is already invested and, importantly, we're gaining exposure to private AI companies and transactions that Australian investors would ordinarily find extremely difficult to access.

"ByteDance is a good early example of what AIX is trying to achieve, and demonstrates the opportunity in targeting these private companies before they list.

"We don't expect every company to increase by 20% in the first month, but we do expect to see explosive growth among these global AI companies over time.

"We are also very excited about the LLM investment we have secured. It is one of the two leading companies globally, will be a significant position for AIX, and we believe we have acquired the exposure at a very attractive valuation", Pillemer said.

AIX's investments are managed by US-based GCM Grosvenor, a global alternative asset manager with more than US$91 billion in assets under management, which also manages investments for the Pengana Private Equity Trust (ASX: PE1).