Today marks three years since Russia’s illegal, unprovoked, and brutal invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainian people have heroically fought the war with grit and determination, but they have also, against the odds, innovated on and off the battlefield.
In addition to establishing a defense tech initiative called BRAVE1, the country has also hosted tech conferences like IT Arena, even amidst the problems caused by the war.
Ukraine is now the leader in AI-enabled drone technology and become a magnet for Western companies and investors keen to support the country, and Europe. But is it enough? If the recent news is anything to go by, Europe is only now waking up to the fact that it will have to get closer than ever before to Ukraine if it is to maintain and defend its own security.
A recent report by VC investor Lakestar warned that Europe is facing its biggest threat in decades. Observers estimate it will take Russia 2-8 years to rebuild its army to the point where it could dare to attack Europe, but European NATO allies are not doing enough to build a credible deterrent, and have even scaled back defense spending by 30% since the 1990s. Meanwhile, the industry’s current production and imports are only a fraction of stock levels. At the same time, European investment in R&D is only 1/10 of the spending in the US.
Speaking exclusively to Lakestar’s Klaus Hommels at last month’s DLD conference, Hommels told TechCrunch: “You don’t need to have a magic ball to see that the Europeans need to put a lot of money into the defense sector.” For that to happen, he said, entrepreneurs need to see that there is funding available, then VCs will start to see startups appear: “Secondly, you needed some success stories, which you now have.”
“At the end, it is about sovereignty. If you don’t equip, if you don’t invest, then you won’t have that sovereignty,” he added.
That appe …