Good afternoon from the team at Resilience Media
We were aware that Uwe Horstmann has been de facto CEO of Stark for at least the last six months, but respected their wish to announce this only once their funding round was in place. One person close to the matter called it ‘the worst kept secret’ in European defence tech, but in such a complex market, these things matter. Now, Uwe is finally operating out of the shadows as the CEO, and Stark has announced its roster of blue chip investors, which includes IQT, NIF, Sequoia Capital, Thiel Capital, and 8VC. Uwe has been a huge influence on this sector, and we will be covering what his move from VC to CEO means for Europe, defence tech startups, and defence tech investing in the coming weeks. Read our article in the Startup Watch section below for more.
The concept of the drone wall is suddenly centre stage after the recent Russian incursions into NATO airspace. Partnerships are emerging to bring the technology needed to protect our airspace online quickly. The latest alliance is between Axon and Tytan Technologies, which we covered this week. Read more in the extended Startup Watch section below.
Elsewhere on Resilience Media:
- NATO Turns to Oracle and Druid Software for Secure Battlefield 5G Connectivity
- HyperBunker Raises €800K To Build Data Bunkers For The Digital Battlefield
- Quaze Turns Nearly Anything Into A Charging Surface for Drones
- Taiwan’s drone industry: vertical take-off
Are you going to Slush? We are and we’re co-hosting a unique side event with Project A, IQT, NIF, Stark, Lakestar, and DIANA. The event is nearly full, so register now if you want to join us all – register here.
-Leslie Hitchcock, co-founder and Publisher, Resilience Media
Stark — the Berlin-based producer of strike drones and related software that quietly raised $62 million earlier this year without a CEO on board — has finally announced an official head. Uwe Horstmann, the founder of defence VC Project A (one of the earliest investors in Stark), is now its CEO.
Rumors of Horstmann taking the helm have been swirling since earlier this year; Stark declined to confirm or deny them to Resilience Media at the time.
Stark was founded by Florian Seibel, who is the CEO of another defence tech company, Quantum Systems. Seibel once said he founded Stark after the German government requested Quantum Systems to develop weaponised versions of its surveillance aircraft (outside the scope of Quantum Systems). Seibel was something of a de facto spokesperson for Stark prior to the $62 million fundraise. Notably, he is not mentioned at all in the announcement of Horstmann’s appointment. Keep reading here.
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There’s been a lot of talk about drone walls in recent months as countries in Europe seek to counter the adversarial threat of Russia, after several of its unmanned aerial vehicles appeared into Western airspace. Now, Tytan Technologies — one of the bigger startups developing these kinetic interceptor defence systems — is announcing a partnership to expand its ecosystem to rise to that challenge.
Munich-based Tytan and Axon division Dedrone said they will collaborate on hardware and software solutions targeting a wider range of UAVs. The deal is significant for a number of reasons:
— Tytan is on the radar. The startup’s services are in demand. Earlier in October, it inked a major deal with the German government, reportedly worth hundreds of millions of euros, which will see Tytan supply the Bundeswehr (Germany’s armed forces) with a kinetic defence system to take down drones. Tytan’s system — comprised of software, ground stations and interceptor drones — targets both UAVs used for reconnaissance and strike drones equipped with weapons.
UK-UA Defence Tech Forum
Resilience Media is once more a Media Partner of the 4th UK-UA Defence Tech Forum, which is taking place on 18th November at RUSI in London with the official support of the Embassy of Ukraine in the UK.
The series of conferences was convened to enhance the collaboration between Ukrainian, British and international defence tech firms, together with the VC community, to scale up production and speed up R&D and new innovations. To date the series has attracted over 750 participants and registration has had to be closed well in advance of each event. Highlights include a pitch session featuring 15 hand-picked leading Ukrainian defence tech companies designed to create partnerships with international counterparts and to meet with leading VCs.
Resilience Media readers receive a 25% discount on the registration fee. When registering on the Forum webpage simply enter the code Resilience25. For any questions contact the organisers at: [email protected] .
