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Good afternoon from the team at Resilience Media.
Last week saw the first IPO of a Ukrainian defence tech startup, Swarmer, co-founded by Ukrainian Serhii Kupriienko. This is a big deal for Ukraine and for defence tech. When we reported on the listing, we were unable to speak to the Swarmer executive team due to the SEC-mandated quiet period, but we are thrilled to announce that Serhii has agreed to speak at Resilience Conference Warsaw, on April 15th, in his first public appearance since the IPO. He will sit for an interview looking at the road to the IPO, what it is like to list on the NASDAQ as a Ukrainian startup, and what’s next for Swarmer. Buy your ticket today.
We pay for our events through tickets and sponsorship. We don’t have paid content, and we don’t take government money. This allows us to remain independent and curate challenging and impactful content. You can support our work by sponsoring our events. To discuss this, please contact me.
To prepare you for Kuprienko’s time on our stage, we’ve excerpted Ingrid Lunden’s piece on the Swarmer IPO below in our Startup Watch section.
In the growing crisis in the Middle Eastern, startups are keen to see if and how their couner-UAS solutions will be deployed at scale to defend against the low-cost Shaheds Iran is using to paralyse the Strait of Hormuz, and to attack targets around the region. Ingrid Lunden and Tom Pashby talk to founders and investors across the industry about the missed opportunities. Read their article here.
In our Deals section, Reporter Carly Page unpacks Eglide’s €8M seed round. Read it below.
Elsewhere on Resilience Media:
- Brave1 and NATO Innovation HQ team up to fast track defence tech
- Meet the company preparing for a world without GPS
- Brave1 packs rooms in the US with its Ukraine defence tech roadshow
- How the Element CEO secured communications in thirty-four countries
I’ll be back in your inboxes next week. Thanks for reading.
-Leslie Hitchcock, co-founder and Publisher, Resilience Media
Egide lands €8M to build low-cost interceptors as Europe races to counter drone swarms
- French defence startup Egide has raised €8 million in seed funding to develop a new class of low-cost interceptors aimed at countering the growing threat posed by mass-produced drones, as Europe moves to adapt its defence posture to the realities of modern conflict.
- The Paris-based company, founded in 2025 by former MBDA engineers Simon Calonne and Florian Audigier, said the round was co-led by Expeditions, Eurazeo, and Heartcore Capital, with additional backing from Galion.exe and Kima Ventures.
- The funding lands as policymakers and industry figures convene in Paris this week, where a focus will be how to scale Europe’s defensive capabilities.
The Perfect Swarm: How Swarmer got its timing just right and saw its US IPO pop
Ingrid Lunden, Managing Editor
Timing accounts for a lot in business.
Such was the case for Swarmer, a startup out of Ukraine that develops software for drones and other autonomous systems. This week, the company went from respected (but largely unknown outside of Ukraine) developer of autonomous software to one of the most successful IPOs in the last year, the first public listing of a Ukrainian defence tech company.
After offering its IPO at $5 per share, shares rose nearly 520% in Swarmer’s first day of trading on the Nasdaq Global Market (focused on international mid-market companies). As of market close Thursday, Swarmer’s share price was $52.55, representing a rise of nearly 1,000%. Its market cap on paper is now more than $650 million.
Those numbers are inevitably going to shift significantly over time — pops and flops at IPO don’t typically indicate long-term performance — but a closer look at what happened here is an interesting window on where Ukraine defence technology is sitting with investors at the moment, and what might come next.
Swarmer’s decision to IPO
Significantly, it was only six months ago that the company raised a $15 million Series A. It was looking to raise the same amount again for hiring, business development, and to develop new technology.
On the new tech front, Swarmer is currently in a quiet period until mid-April and declined to comment for this story, but its S-1 filing points to something coming up.
“Swarmer is approaching a significant new product release that builds directly on its combat-validated foundation, extending its capabilities while preserving platform agnosticism,” notes Erik Prince, the company’s non-executive chairman, in an introductory note on the filing. He doesn’t provide any timeline or other specifics for this new product.
Deborah Fairlamb, a partner at Swarmer investor Green Flag, told Resilience Media that the startup had always planned to raise its next money by way of a listing. That was a by-product of its lead backer in the last round, Broadband Capital, which invested with the intention of taking it public to raise more funds later.
This makes some sense. Tapping public interest in backing Ukrainian defence tech may well have been seen as easier than the ongoing challenges of a Ukraine startup sourcing capital from VCs nervous about both the risks of investing in a war zone with uncertain outcomes and timelines; and where corruption allegations have been a recurring theme.
The plan originally was to list in early January, Fairlamb said.
“But it got delayed because when the US government shut down last fall, the SEC was closed, so they weren’t reviewing documents. So that pushed everything back.”
It was then supposed to launch in February — which happened to be just ahead of the US carrying out its first surprise attack on Iran. Instead, the SEC sent through questions on documents, which further delayed the listing, which then got bumped a few more weeks. Keep reading here.
Our Strategic Partner, European Defense Tech Hub is awash with hackathons this year. Will we see you there?
EDTH Netherlands
AI Armaments HQ, Netherlands | April 10–12, 2026
The EDTH Netherlands hackathon brings together builders, engineers, and operators at AI Armaments HQ for a focused weekend of defence tech innovation. Participants will collaborate on real-world security challenges, developing prototypes and solutions at the intersection of AI and modern warfare.
🔗 https://luma.com/edth-2026-netherlands
EDTH Porto
Porto, Portugal | April 24–26, 2026
Set in one of Europe’s most vibrant startup cities, EDTH Porto convenes top technical talent to tackle pressing defence and resilience challenges. Expect a high-energy environment with hands-on building, mentorship, and collaboration across borders.
🔗 https://luma.com/edth-2026-porto
EDTH Stockholm
Stockholm, Sweden | April 24–26, 2026
EDTH Stockholm gathers Nordic engineers, founders, and defence innovators for a weekend of rapid prototyping and experimentation. The event focuses on dual-use technologies and scalable solutions to strengthen regional and global security.
🔗 https://luma.com/edth-2026-stockholm
EDTH Kyiv (Flagship)
Kyiv, Ukraine | April 27 – May 3, 2026
As a flagship event, EDTH Kyiv offers a unique opportunity to build alongside one of the world’s most battle-tested defence tech ecosystems. Participants will work on urgent, real-world problems, with direct relevance to modern conflict and resilience.
🔗 https://luma.com/edth-2026-kyiv
