European Defense Tech

🇺🇦🇩🇰🇫🇮🇳🇴🇸🇪🇪🇪 The 6th edition of the DIH newsletter is released where we: ✔ highlight the trending and new cooperation models with Denmark, Norway & France ✔ overview of the featured niche news from Nordic countries ✔ provide special attention to Ukrainian defense innovation ecosystem development, September-October events in Lviv & Kyiv ✔ shed light on investment deals on the market ✔ keep an eye on data & reports. Discover more and share with colleagues! #DIH #DefenseInnovationHighway #defensetech #newsletter

🚨 Less than two weeks to go until the next European Defense Tech Berlin meetup, this time hosted by XAnge (sign-up link in the comments) It's a great way to connect with fellow defense innovators, founders, and VCs, find a co-founder, start a collaboration, or stop by if you're curious about the latest in defense tech Matthias Lehna will give a brief talk about the work of Quantum Systems and the newly founded UXS Alliance; we'll have an open mic session where you can pitch your startup and plenty of time for networking 30+ sign-ups already and limited spots 🚨

🔥 At IT Arena 2024, as part of the defense section of the competition, 29 Ukrainian defense tech teams presented their innovative solutions. A jury, consisting of military experts and representatives from accelerators and investment funds, determined the winners: 🥇 Oko Camera — develops thermal imaging modules for UAVs that enable effective target engagement at night. 🥈 Vidar Systems — creates acoustic technologies for detecting enemy artillery by the sound of its fire. 🥉 NORDA Dynamics — specializes in autonomous piloting and targeting systems for UAVs. All winners are participants of the Brave1 cluster, and their solutions are already actively used on the front lines. The winners received cash prizes of $15,000, $10,000, and $5,000, which can be directed toward the development and scaling of their technologies. The competition also featured teams working on AI technologies for drone targeting, ground robotic systems, mine detection, and "smart munitions." The event was organized by the Lviv IT Cluster, BRAVE1, and Startup Depot.

The House of Lords has just released ‘Ukraine: a Wake-up Call’. The strategic, and rather blunt, observations made in the report can be grouped into three main themes: Military Capabilities: 1. The UK's Armed Forces lack the mass, resilience, and internal coherence necessary for effective deterrence and response to prolonged, high-intensity warfare. 2. The size of the British military is inadequate, and there are challenges with recruitment and retention across all services. 3. The UK lacks a coherent model to augment its relatively small Armed Forces with capabilities needed to sustain or deter warfighting. 4. The UK's defence industrial base and procurement methods lack the agility required to keep pace with modern warfare demands. International Relations: 1. The Russian invasion of Ukraine represents a failure of NATO's deterrence #strategy and exposed weaknesses in both UK and #NATO military strength. 2. The UK should be more proactive in building relationships with Global South countries to counter Russian and Chinese influence. 3. Closer engagement with Europe and the EU on security matters is crucial, especially as the US refocuses on the Indo-Pacific. 4. The UK must commit to spending more on defence, spending it better, and leveraging its alliances more effectively. Domestic Engagement and Resilience: 1. There is an urgent need for a whole-of-Government effort to build resilience and better protect the UK's critical national infrastructure against #cyber and hybrid threats. 2. There's a need to engage broader society in defence, integrating civilian capabilities and encouraging community engagement. 3. The government needs to provide a clear, honest narrative about defence ambitions, resources, threats, and risks. 4. The document calls for the government to set defence priorities and articulate funding levels in light of the deteriorating global threat environment. The report illustrates that the UK must urgently reassess and strengthen its defence capabilities, increase investment in its armed forces, and reestablish stronger international partnerships. I do not find it surprising that we have fallen behind competitively however, we need clarity in the direction Defence intend to head. This clarity of direction must address modernising the military, enhancing resilience against cyber and hybrid threats, revitalising the defence industrial base, and engaging society in national security efforts. I think it would also be useful to understand exactly what role Defence intends to play in the future operating environment; we would arguably contribute more to global #security outcomes by becoming more surgical and amplifying our strengths accordingly. What do you think should be the UK's priority in strengthening its #defence capabilities? How can we balance the need for a broad spectrum of military capabilities with the reality of limited resources? Useful links in comments.

In late June, we hosted Europe's largest defense tech hackathon in Munich – here's what came out of it: 150 hackers | 34 projects | one weekend with one mission – develop solutions that will be deployed in the real world 🚨 On October 30, we'll also do a virtual demo day, where you can learn more and ask questions (sign up with the link in the comments) Here's a glimpse: Magnus Freyer and Joshua Soutelo have founded Munin, a startup developing first-line gear to protect soldiers from drone attacks. Kaloyan Miladinov, Ognyan R., Filostratos Titopoulos, and Aleksandar Mechkarov, a team of Bulgarian high school students, have founded a company, SentIRX, to detect landmines using drones and thermal imaging. Claudio Flores explored during the hackathon through project FAR SIGHT how fluorescent nanoparticles can help with ecologically stealthy reconnaissance; he continues exploring this as part of his bio-nanotech startup, Mimotype Technologies GmbH. Nino Lindenberg and Nura (Ngurah) Linggih founded PLENO (Techstars'24), a startup developing autonomous systems for robots; through the hackathon, they looked into building a modular autonomous system for first-person view (FPV) guidance of drones with only a vision-based navigation system for GPS-denied environments. Vytautas Mikalainis started Unbound Autonomy before the hackathon, developing an AI pin for mission-critical operations. Its technology converts noisy, unstructured tactical communications into digital battlefield updates while also capturing and understanding specific visual actions. Calvin Krieger, Christoph Brauer, and Richard Krümmel are founding a stealth startup that uses large language models for intelligence processing. We know three more hackathon alumni who are building startups in stealth, which we cannot make public at this time. Finally, we'd like to thank our sponsors and supporters for making this event possible: First and foremost, Entrepreneur First, Helsing, and Auterion, whose early commitment has been crucial to getting this off the ground. And, in addition, DefSecIntel Solutions, Spleenlab GmbH, Quantum Systems, Delian Alliance Industries, TYTAN Technologies, ARX Robotics, General Catalyst, D3 Venture Capital Firm, Presto Ventures, Project A, Inflection.xyz, Bundeswehr University Munich, TUM Venture Labs Aerospace, BRAVE1, Bundeswehr Cyber Innovation Hub, and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

🚀 Exciting news from Quantum Systems! We have successfully secured over €100M in Series B funding, welcoming new investors Notion Capital and Porsche Automobil Holding SE. As Europe's leading drone tech innovator, we are committed to advancing our #AI-driven drones for sectors like mining, construction, agriculture, public safety and defence. With this funding, we aim for global expansion and significant advancements in technology, production scale-up, and R&D. Our CEO Florian Seibel emphasizes the importance of #innovation in defending European values and enhancing technological sovereignty.   Read the full news here: https://lnkd.in/ekV7n8FD Join us as we embark on this journey toward a resilient future! 🌍✨ HV Capital DTCP Project A #QuantumSystems #DroneTech #Innovation #Funding

If you're in London this week for the Resilience Conference or just want to spend an interesting evening with other deep tech enthusiasts: The European Defense Tech Hub and Telos House are co-hosting a meetup on Saturday, Sep 28, to gather startup founders, investors, researchers, and innovators at the intersection of deep tech and dual-use. We'll have a few short presentations, with the remaining evening left for insightful discussions and networking. Join us by signing up on Luma (link in the comments) 👇