Editor’s note: This is a copy of our Weekly Digest newsletter, a free newsletter sent once per week from Resilience Media. Subscribe here to receive it in your inbox.
Good afternoon from the team at Resilience Media.
For all the LinkedIn talk about a drone startup bubble, there’s no denying the very real impact drone technology has on the defence of Ukraine. This was made evident by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense which held the Army of Drones 2025 event this week in Kyiv. The numbers are staggering and show the threat that Russian forces still impose upon the Ukrainian people and their democracy: the Ukrainian armed forces reported 820,000 verified strikes in 2025, with “over 80% of enemy targets … destroyed by drones,” according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. You can read more in our Dispatches from Ukraine section below.
Along the Eastern Flank of NATO where drone incursions have become a persistent threat, interceptor technology is more important than ever. This week Managing Editor Ingrid Lunden reported on news that Frankenburg Technologies has raised $50M at a $400M valuation. CEO Kusti Salm did not comment for our story, which is excerpted below in the Startup Watch section.
Dr Tobias Stone represented Resilience Media at the World Economic Forum last week moderating panels at the Finnish-Swiss Chamber of Commerce (topic: digital sovereignty) and the Polish Business Hub (drones). He also had a front-row seat as Finnish President Alexander Stubb reflected on the US-Greenland crisis. The output from pages of notes and observations is excerpted below in our Dispatches from Davos section.
Our Editor at Large John Biggs was busy this week, talking to some of the most interesting players in the defence and security space. Watch his latest with Peter Goldsborough, CTO of Rune Technologies and Svilen Rangelov, co founder and CEO of Dronamics. Fancy a chat with John? Send him a note.
Elsewhere on Resilience Media:
- UK Advances Project NYX, shortlists Euro firms to build autonomous “wingman” drones
- Grid Aero raises $20 million Series A to bring autonomous cargo drones to the front lines
- Russia-linked Sandworm hackers blamed for failed attack on Poland’s power grid
- ‘One alone isn’t a fighter’: Latvia opens up to allies as NATO DIANA supersizes
- Weekend Read: ‘History tells us what may happen next with Brexit & Trump’ ten years on
Do you have a tip, funding announcement, or news? Send it our way. I’ll be back in your inboxes next week.
-Leslie Hitchcock, co-founder and Publisher, Resilience Media
Ukraine says drone campaign logged nearly 820,000 verified strikes in 2025, with UAVs driving majority of battlefield interactions
By John Biggs, Editor at Large
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence said drone operations accounted for hundreds of thousands of confirmed battlefield strikes in 2025, underscoring the central role unmanned systems now play in the war.
Speaking at the Army of Drones 2025 event, Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Ukrainian forces recorded roughly 820,000 verified strikes against Russian targets over the course of the year. According to the ministry, those strikes included around 240,000 cases in which enemy personnel were killed or critically wounded.
“Currently, over 80% of enemy targets are destroyed by drones,” said Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “The vast majority are drones manufactured in Ukraine. We must secure Ukraine’s enduring technological leadership. This translates into increased effectiveness of drone developers and manufacturers, greater effectiveness of our ‘Drone Line’ project, and greater effectiveness of every unit operating drones and employing technologies and all new elements of warfare.”
Frankenburg has raised up to $50M at a $400M valuation, say sources
By Ingrid Lunden, Managing Editor
There are multiple thousands of kinetic and battle-ready drones being produced for use in Ukraine every month, but not just by Allied countries – by adversaries, too. Whatever use they will have in future active combat beyond Ukraine, that drone race is putting a spotlight on startups building protection against incursions. In one of the latest developments, Frankenburg — a startup building low-cost, AI-based anti-drone missile systems — is ramping up, and to fuel that growth, Resilience Media has learned that it has raised capital approaching $50 million at a valuation of around $400 million.
Multiple sources say the round is closed and will be announced soon. The funding is bringing in a slate of new investors, they added, and may lay the groundwork for a bigger round possibly as soon as later this year. Current backers of the startup include London’s Blossom Capital, Shellona Ltd, Estonian private equity firm MM Group, and the CEO of Milrem Robotics, Kuldar Vaarsi.
Big investors and supporters of defence tech in Europe have included General Catalyst and Plural, both of which declined to comment for this story.
Follow Resilience Media on LinkedIn to catch our latest news coverage in your feed. And don’t be shy; bring your voice to the discussion.
Dispatch from Davos: Tech sovereignty looms large
Paul Sawers, Contributing Reporter
A recurring theme emerged from the chatter at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos this week, with questions around sovereignty looming large.
There was no escaping the thorny matter of Greenland, in the wake of a push by US President Donald Trump for Washington to take control of the Danish territory. Finland’s president, Alexander Stubb, addressed the issue head on during a fireside chat in Switzerland, outlining three potential outcomes he dubbed the “good, the bad, and the ugly,” ranging from de-escalation to outright confrontation.
Ultimately, Stubb suggested we’ll end up somewhere in the middle.
“What has been proposed flies against basic international law, territorial integrity and sovereignty, and among allies this should be discussed diplomatically,” Stubb said.
Greenland, however, was merely the most visible expression of a wider concern running through Davos, with sovereignty now intersecting with technology, infrastructure and national preparedness.
Asked whether Europe is now facing state-on-state wars in the same way previous generations did, Stubb pointed to Finland’s approach to deterrence, arguing that it now extends well beyond the battlefield.
“Prepare for the worst to avoid it – strong defence removes incentives to invade,” he said. “If the electricity goes down, we know what to do. If telecoms and networks go down, we know what to do. We have a secure supply of food.”
