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3 billion dollars. In just six months, Munich-based startup Quantum Systems has tripled its valuation to 3 billion dollars.
This shows how quickly Europe’s defence tech champions are maturing. What began as a drone startup is now seen as a potential “Neo Prime”: as central and relevant as traditional primes like Airbus, Rheinmetall, Thales or Saab — but far more agile, vertically integrated and software-driven.
Dealroom’s State of Defence Tech 2025 report underlines this shift with compelling data — and we highlight the five essential takeaways.
As Europe’s defence-tech sector evolves, one thing becomes clear: its future is increasingly orbital. Space is where intelligence, communications and resilience converge — from Earth-observation for battlefield awareness to secure satellite networks and rapid-launch capabilities.
In this week’s Deep Tech Now you’ll find:
Europe’s top five Earth Observation scaleups with defence applications
Dr. Kristina Wagner (CTO, OHB) on how a European space giant accelerates innovation through startup partnerships
Martin on why the best leaders go on "Gemba Walks"—a principle well exemplified by defence founders who leave the boardroom to validate their technology on the actual frontlines
To wrap up, scroll to the bottom and read the updates on our invite-only Defence Innovation Summit (SPARTA) at the Munich Security Conference.
Let’s walk.
THE LEAP | BY MARTIN SCHILLING
Between Shock Absorbers and Gemba Walks
Slush 2025
Dear all,
Have you recently acted enough as a shock absorber? This question kept coming back to me at Slush, where I had several deep conversations with investors about what real leadership looks like under pressure. Max Bautin, founder of IQ Capital, framed it very clearly. When a founder or team is under pressure, he sees his primary role as absorbing the shock — radiating calm, showing a path to the light, and giving the team room to breathe again. Not adding more pressure.
We faced a similar test recently when a partner threatened to cancel one of our events due to misaligned priorities. In moments like this, my instinct is transparency: share the facts with the team, but strip away the panic. Inject calm and fearlessness. Be the shock absorber.
Someone who embodies this gravitas is Frank Appel, the former CEO of DHL Group (and now supervisory chairman of RWE and Deutsche Telekom) who will join us at Deep Tech Momentum 2026 to speak about the importance of open borders and free trade in an increasingly “de-coupling” world. Last week, he and I ended up in a great discussion on a principle that has shaped some of the world’s best operators: “Go to Gemba”.
Gemba (現場), “the actual place” is a core management philosophy from Toyota. After WWII, Japan had almost no resources and desperately needed to eliminate waste in production. Taiichi Ohno, the father of this approach, had a famously simple (and almost brutal) method for teaching young engineers. He would draw a chalk circle on the factory floor and tell them: “Stand here and watch.” For hours.
Eventually, patterns emerge: wasted steps, waiting time, avoidable motion, small mistakes. Ohno believed you must go to the place where value is created and observe with your own eyes — not rely only on reports or dashboards.
Frank practiced this. Even as CEO, he delivered parcels on the last mile to spot inefficiencies in technical products and delivery processes. During my time as COO at N26, I did the same by spending time in the call centers — though looking back, probably not enough.
If you look at Europe’s current startup ecosystem, there is really only one branch where you don’t need to teach founders about “Going Gemba” — defence tech. These founders live this principle from the very beginning.
Many of Europe’s leading defence founders — be it Florian Seibel from Quantum Systems, Marc Wietfeld from ARX, or Uwe Horstmann, who recently joined Stark as CEO — all come from the field. They each have many years of experience as serving soldiers in the Bundeswehr, and they know their domain inside out. They spent years observing the needs before developing technologies for a new kind of defence.
They also test much of their technology directly on the ground in Ukraine. They went there very early, took a bold chance, and supported Ukrainians in defending democracy and freedom — while at the same time learning from failures and imperfections in their technologies and improving them as quickly and as reality-proven as possible.
Every deep tech founder, operator, investor and corporate partner would benefit from integrating “Go to Gemba” into how they scale ventures. Do you spend enough time in the lab? Do you still code yourself? Do you help assemble the robot, the satellite, the car, the rocket — at least sometimes?
Why not institutionalise it: one “Go to Gemba” day per quarter for the entire executive team, followed by a structured reflection on what you will change?
Wishing you a week full of Gemba walks — without shocks.
Martin
VENTURE CLIENTING CHRONICLES
Dr. Kristina Wagner — Chief Technology Officer | Chief Digital Officer – OHB SE
Dr. Kristina Wagner works for one of Europe's leading aerospace companies based in Bremen. With a background in mathematics she is driving forward the democratisation of space exploration and multi-planetary infrastructure projects such as lunar bases and Mars transit stations. She also contributed to the Galileo navigation satellites launched by OHB in 2024.
In which Deep Tech fields are you actively seeking startup collaborations right now?
We are broadly interested in startups driving innovation across the entire space sector—upstream, midstream, and downstream. Of particular interest are software-defined solutions that enable autonomous, interconnected, and cognitive capabilities. We also value products, components, and systems that enhance sovereignty, cost competitiveness, and scalability, supporting the high-volume demands of our current growth trajectory.
Which three startup teams have inspired you the most in the last year – and why?
Atmos Space Cargo – Their ability to return cargo from space in record time, backed by a strong business case, is truly impressive.
Spacefibre – A highly committed team developing breakthrough technologies for lunar infrastructure and advanced radiation shielding.
Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) – Despite challenges last year, they showed resilience and are now on track for their first launch.
How do you usually identify and select promising startup partners?
We engage with startups through accelerator programs, industry platforms, workshops, and trade fairs. When selecting partners, we prioritize strategic alignment with OHB’s roadmap, compatibility with our mission timelines, and—above all—the quality and expertise of the founding team.
What is your top advice for startups aiming to partner with your company?
Understand our needs and tailor your approach accordingly. Connect with the right stakeholders — technical, programmatic, or investment-focused — rather than spreading efforts too broadly. Be clear and concise about your value proposition.
What helps most in moving from PoC to commercial partnership?
Show commitment to advancing your product without being overly aggressive. We value enthusiasm, but receive numerous requests weekly. The key is to link your solution directly to OHB’s mission objectives, creating a strong and relevant application case.
➔ Follow Dr. Kristina Wagner on LinkedIn where she is actively sharing OHB SE-related news.
DEEP TECH OPEN | SPACE & DEFENCE
Europe’s Top 5 Earth-Observation Startups with Defence Applications | Series B (€37–95m)
Aerospacelab | Brussels, Belgium
Technology: Industrial-scale manufacturing of modular EO and communications satellites; building one of Europe’s largest satellite factories (up to 500 satellites/year)
Customers: Services European defence agencies and dual-use clients, and made it as a finalist to manufacture IRIS², the EU’s secure-connectivity constellation
Use cases: Earth observation, surveillance, secure communications, constellation deployment for strategic and governmental users
Funding: €94m Series B (2025, incl. EIB / InvestEU support)
Why it matters: Aerospacelab strengthens Europe’s strategic autonomy by enabling rapid deployment of sovereign satellite capacity for civilian and defence needs
EnduroSat | Sofia, Bulgaria
Technology: Highly modular nanosatellite platforms and shared satellite services for EO and communications missions
Customers | Defence Focus: Civil and institutional space customers including DLR, ESA and CNES; Series B round explicitly supported expansion into governmental, sovereign space missions with dual-use potential
Use cases: EO monitoring, communications payloads, responsive orbital services, crisis and border-monitoring applications
Funding: €89.9m Series B (2025)
Why it matters: EnduroSat wants to make space access affordable and rapid — allowing emerging states or agencies to field EO and security-relevant capabilities quickly
➔ Investor Peter Thiel holds share in EnduroSat as does German Investor Frank Thelen
OroraTech | Munich, Germany
Technology: Nanosatellite-based thermal Earth-observation constellation with real-time thermal data
Customers | Defence Focus: Greece (Ministry of Digital Governance). Secured a major portion of a €20M contract to build a national satellite-based early warning system — a strategic national security asset, protecting borders and infrastructure from destabilising fires
Use cases: Wildfire detection, thermal anomaly detection, global environmental & risk monitoring, rapid response and early warning systems
Funding: €37M Series B (2025, extension)
Why it matters: While OroraTech explicitly markets wildfire & environmental intelligence, its global thermal EO capabilities and 24/7 satellite-based monitoring infrastructure provide a strong dual-use foundation — useful for crisis detection, disaster response, border or infrastructure surveillance under civilian or governmental mandates
Open Cosmos | Didcot, UK
Technology: Design, build, launch and operate small EO satellites; turnkey mission services; multi-payload satellite platforms
Customers | Defence Focus: National governments, space agencies, research institutions and private companies — including the governments of the UK, Greece and Portugal; ESA and the UK Space Agency
Use cases: Climate monitoring, crisis mapping, infrastructure observation, sovereign EO missions with potential defence applications
2025 Contract Highlight: Together with Astroscale, won a £5.15m contract with UK Defence (Dstl) for space situational awareness
Why it matters: Open Cosmos provides flexible, end-to-end EO satellite missions — enabling governments and institutions to deploy independent space-based monitoring capabilities rapidly
➔ Since the end of 2020, the business has organically grown to become EBITDA positive, whilst at the same time doubling revenues year-on-year.
Exotrail | Massy & Toulouse, France
Technology: End-to-end space mobility operator providing hardware, software, and logistics services
Customers | Defence Focus: French Space Command (CDE) and Defence Innovation Agency (AID) for simulation software; Airbus for propulsion integration; QuantX Labs and Cailabs for hosted payload missions
Use cases: Satellite deployment, in-orbit logistics, and hosting defence experiments—specifically testing QuantX Labs’ optical frequency combs for atomic clocks (PNT) and Cailabs’ secure laser communication terminals
2025 Contract Highlight: Selected for AsterX 2025 (French Military Space Exercise) to demonstrate space domain awareness and manoeuvring; signed Cailabs (July 2025) as a commercial customer for optical links
Why it matters: Exotrail is building the "logistics backbone" for European space sovereignty. Its Spacevan serves as a critical rapid-validation platform for high-priority defence technologies, enabling the testing of unjammable communications and next-generation navigation systems in orbit
THE PULSE
The $2.3 Billion Surge: The 2025 Evolution of European Defence Tech
Together with Resilience Media, DealRoom put together a comprehensive “The State of Defence Tech Report 2025”. Here’s what you need to know:
VC funding surges to record levels — defence is Europe’s fastest-growing vertical
European defence-tech startups have raised ≈ US$ 1.5 billion, with projections pointing toward US$ 2–2.3 billion by year’s end.European investors & funds are multiplying — investor base has expanded 4x since 2019
Also, more specialist funds (including deep-tech / defence-oriented funds) are emerging — a sign the sector is maturing beyond ad-hoc investments and entering a more institutionalized phase.Europe is catching up — but still lags in critical segments like space tech & AI-chips
Gaps remain, highlighting where further investment, industrial policy and strategic support will be most needed.Veterans and domain-experienced founders play a key role in driving credibility and adoption
A substantial portion of senior leadership in European defence startups now come from military, MoD or defence backgrounds. They bring operational understanding, credibility with procurement agencies and real-world experience.
ECOSYSTEM GIFT
Meet The Investor: Mentoring Session with HV Capital
This week's ecosystem gift is a one-on-one 30-minute mentoring session with Jan Miczaika, Partner at HV Capital.
Here are 5 reasons to jump on this opportunity:
He is a seasoned operator who helped scale Wooga into one of Europe’s leading gaming companies - later exited to Playtime.
His startup journey started long before that: Jan co-founded an e-commerce marketplace straight out of university - which, after being exited to Kaufland/Schwarz Group, is now one of Europe’s leading marketplaces.
Amongst founders, Jan is known for his calm, clear strategic guidance and hands-on approach
At HV Capital, he focuses on high-growth Deep Tech
He represents one of Europe’s leading multistage generalist venture capital firms with over €2.8 billion under management. Portfolio include Quantum Systems, Isar Aerospace, Neura Robotics, and Marvel Fusion
➔ Make sure to register your interest here.
➔ Keen to stay up to date with HV news? Sign up to their newsletter.
Last Week’s Winner: Congratulations to Alexander Türpe! We’ll be in touch to send you your copy of the book Buy, don’t invest: The Venture Client Model.
Thank you for reading. If you value these insights, here are two ways to engage—with a special priority this week for our defence network:
1. Nominate a Defence Guardian: If you know senior defence tech buyers (e.g. from MoDs, Armed Forces, procurement agencies, or primes), please nominate them. They’ll be invited into our Guardian network and receive VIP event access. They can apply here.
2. Apply for SPARTA: Request an invitation to Europe’s premier defence innovation marketplace at MSC 2026 (12.2.2026).
The Mission: While defence investment surges, it often reinforces legacy systems. SPARTA bridges this gap, offering purpose-built matchmaking for primes, SMEs, startups, and forces to catalyse 100 next-gen commercial partnerships.
Key Attendees:
Mil/Gov: Chiefs of Forces (Land, Naval, Air, Cyber, Space) & Procurement from USA, DE, UK, UA, FI, SE, DK + 12 nations.
Industry: Major Primes & Scaleups including Quantum Systems, The Exploration Company, Morpheus Space, Dronamics, iCOMAT, and Destinus.
➔ Accepted applicants secure the option to meet a highly curated crowd in confidential 1:1s. Apply here.