Europe is at a crossroads: either we massively scale up in tech and defense, or we fall behind

Thank you, Adam Niewinski , for inviting me to deliver a keynote at the great and insightful OTB Ventures Forum in Warsaw. I was honored to share the stage with 𝗚𝗲𝗻. Ben Hodges , Marjut Falkstedt , and 𝗚𝗲𝗻. 𝗥𝗮𝗷𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗿𝘇𝗲𝗷𝗰𝘇𝗮𝗸.

History shows that tech and defense have always been linked. With war in Europe, this is no longer theory but reality.

• The generals stressed tech’s role in resilience for today — and the need to proactively prepare for the “tech wars” of tomorrow.
• Marjut highlighted Europe’s efforts, notably the EIF and ETCI (European Tech Champions Initiative) which greatly accelerates our best funds.

In my keynote — and in the panel, in the very good company of Tomasz Stadnik , Patric Gresko , Jacek Leonkiewicz & Sander Verbrugge — I shared 3 core messages:

1️⃣ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹. Our rivals are the US and China. No single European country can meet it alone.

2️⃣ 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝘂𝗽. Public money is indispensable but scarce in Europe. France launched the #Tibi initiative to mobilize this capital (€15bn committed by LPs 2020–2026). We need European partners. Europe’s €35,000bn in household savings is a fortress that should open up to the future, not protect the past. My earlier trips in Germany, Greece, Denmark, the UK, etc, convinced me that the direction is clear but that i) the magnitude of the effort is still shocking and ii) getting started requires the alignment of many stars. So, to play on Marx and Engels' words (!!), “LPs of all European countries, unite!” should be our rallying cry, repeated relentlessly.

3️⃣ 𝗗𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲. Europe needs €20–30bn in dual-use defense tech start-ups over the next 5 years (€120–150bn in deep tech overall). Without political will to encourage and incentivize scientists, LPs and GPs, we face two bad options: underinvest — or let US money fund and rule European defense start-ups. Neither is acceptable in 2025.

🚀 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗯𝗶𝗴, 𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲 — 𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱.

Philippe Brassac Hervé Guillou Christophe Bories Sandrine Ménard Camille Sutter Jean de Livonnière École Polytechnique Michel de Lempdes France Deeptech Laura Chaubard

#DeepTech #DefenseTech #VentureCapital #DraghiReport