The first of two articles (link below) examining European tech startups changing the face of the continent’s defense industrial base.
Extract:
Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine accelerated increases in defense spending across Europe. While the European defense and dual-use tech ecosystem is still limited by a preference for national champions, fragmented/duplicative spending at the European and national levels, overly restrictive ESG criteria, and adherence to a failed tech investment playbook, a number of startups and new investors are starting to catalyze the sector.
If Europe is to leverage the lessons learned so far in Ukraine on rapid technology development and deployment, along with tactically sound capital deployments, it should look no further than these new stakeholders. Europe has a checkered track record in trying to build critical technology ecosystems from space to energy, where it has tended to defer to government investors and generalists in the private sector. The results have left Europe behind the United States and China in key sectors, and in many areas, they continue to lose ground.
Labrys Technologies is a seed-stage, London-based defense technology startup developing cutting-edge tools for human intelligence (HUMINT). Using its Axiom platform, the company is fundamentally changing how governments and companies can derive insights and impact from their global networks. Unlike many defense and dual-use tech companies, which exist in a world where hype can and often does outpace reality (and revenue), Labrys has managed not only to generate millions in revenue and profit but has done so without taking any external capital.
https://cepa.org/article/whos-who-in-the-nascent-zoo-europes-defense-tech-ecosystem/
