European Defense Tech Hackathon
Sovereignty of democracy requires innovation in defense
As investors and innovators, we are always looking ahead, trying to balance optimism with caution. One major influence beyond technological progress is our political environment. There is a geopolitical shift happening, and we need to explore areas for growth and innovation that go with those shifts. The invasion of Ukraine underscored the urgent need for advancements in defense tech, and the role venture investors could play. As part of this, we are thrilled to announce the European Defense Tech Hackathon, taking place from June 28 to 30 in Munich, Germany.
European Defense Tech Hackathon
Date: June 28-30, 2024
Location: Munich, Germany
Wake Up, New Geopolitical Situation Dropped
An invasion of a European, sovereign country, can change an optimistic (hopium) outlook suddenly, not just for investors. This realization came with a barrage of changes in public policy, from free trade, open society with fewer borders to protectionism and uprooting of the status quo. We’re living the Zeitenwende right now. It’s happening at your local grocery store with the increased price of bread, at our power plants, and public commitments of investment into defense capacity. Of course, the Russian invasion of Ukraine is more a symptom and a wake-up call than a causal effect. The euphoria of the last 10+ years of monetary policy has come to an abrupt end. The realization that the U.S. has more uncertainty than we thought when it comes to commitments outside of its borders has been a rude awakening for NATO allies and underlines the need for Europe to take increasing responsibility for its own defense capabilities, in order to safeguard its freedom and prosperity.
A Europe in need of acceleration
What reality have we woken up to now? One where Europe is leading in inclusion, sustainability, and regulation. Great, but not enough. It’s necessary (depending on who you ask) but not sufficient. Instead, between 2015 and 2022, Europe spent half as much on R&D as the U.S. did, relative to their revenue. The rate of growth of Europe is two-thirds that of the U.S. and the market cap of the U.S. companies was 2.5x greater. [1] When Germany decided against nuclear power, they said no to technological progress and bet on stable relations with Russia. A former colleague who was involved with gas contracts between a German gas purchaser and a Russian seller said in October 2021: “There’s no way they can roll back on their word. Supply is absolutely secured!” (paraphrasing)
That would probably have been true if not for the massive use of unwarranted violence on Russia’s part and a Western reaction.
Ukrainian ingenuity
For the first time in history, an invasion was essentially live-streamed over Twitter. We could follow open source intelligence (OSINT) researchers on telegram and get the exact positions of Russian troops. At the beginning of the war, there were about 80 drone operators in Kyiv who coordinated directly with frontline artillery and warfighters to target Russians. It was mostly civilian DJI Mavic drones with a ~20 km range and regular cameras being used. [2] Not the $39 million Reaper drones we imagine in war from the Middle Eastern conflicts of past U.S. involvement but a ~$1,000 hobbyist toy. [3] They also developed apps like Delta and Diia to crowdsource intelligence on Russian troop movements and target data. [4]
In the early days, this ingenuity and decentralized coordination was one of the few advantages they had. The Ukrainians dug into this and continued to set up new mechanisms for attracting innovation and novel tech.
Ukraine's defense innovation has been driven by necessity in the face of Russia's ongoing invasion. How can we avoid having such a desperate situation in the rest of Europe?
The country has rapidly adapted existing technologies and developed new ones to counter Russian threats on the battlefield. As an example, they integrated various air defense systems into the "FrankenSAM" hybrid system to counter Russian missiles and drones. [5]
Ukraine's innovation has been highly decentralized, with private companies, civilian volunteers, and military units all contributing solutions at a rapid pace driven by urgent battlefield needs. [5] But it’s a constant struggle and not a decisive advantage in itself. Russia is adapting.
Where does this leave the rest of Europe with our decades, or in some cases century+ of industrial technology companies to government relationships? Where is the competition and innovation?
Primes vs. Hackers
When asking an official for the Armed Forces of one of the most important Euro-Defensive forces how to know what is lacking and what they need. He said “No one really knows what the Armed Forces need as a whole. If they do, they can’t tell you. Probably the procurement department knows, but they will never tell you anything!”
Turning to the UK, with their public calls for explicit challenges to be solved through the Defence and Security Accelerator, or literally texting with Ukrainian officials over signal about immediate needs seems way more democratic and efficient.
Inspired by the energy of our mullet-touting, burger-munching, pick-up truck-driving neighbors in the West, the land of denim on denim, we decided to organize a European Defense Tech Hackathon. We want to inspire and explore, we want to survive and thrive in a democratic society, and for that, our defensive forces need to have the best technology. Our MVP is a hackathon.
The European Defense Tech Hackathon
In conjunction with the mostly optimistic but realistic, Festival of the Future, we’re organizing an evening event and a weekend hackathon together with friends of the fund, Benjamin Wolba and Jens Holzapfel, as well as talent investors Entrepreneur First, and local research incubator TUM Venture Labs.
Munich happens to be a hotbed for defense tech innovation, being home to our sponsors Helsing.ai, Tytan Technologies, Auterion and the University of the Federal Army, as well as Arx Robotics and Quantum Systems. We’re also lucky to get the support of D3.vc - a Ukrainian incubator and fund investing into technologies to win the war. We’re proudly collaborating directly with the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense to ensure high relevance of the challenges we’re tackling during the hacakthon.
The hackathon will be focused on two main challenges:
Preserving lives in conflict
e.g., UAS and counter-UAS tech, friend vs. foe identification, demining, early warning systems
Controlling the information environment
e.g., sensor fusion, cybersecurity, secure comms, jamming, signal analysis, OSINT tooling
Get Involved
Join us in Munich on the 28-30th of June (hackathon starts 29th) to explore, innovate, and contribute to the future of defense technology. Whether you are a soldier, developer, engineer, researcher, or enthusiast, your skills and ideas are vital. Let’s work together to ensure our defensive forces are equipped with the best technology to protect our democratic societies.
Register Now: Link
For more information, visit Eurodefense.tech or contact us at mail@eurodefense.tech