Running a Defense Startup in EU

Question

In general there's a lot of information about doing that in US with certain programs federal/gov programs. And we can see some top startups like Anduril or Shield AI rolling out really innovative products into the market.But how does a story of defense startup looks like in Europe? There's something to fund startup from NATO. But does really an EU citizen have a way to compete with defense/military startups on the other continent.I feel like EU in general is oligopoly and everything is so government-based that there's no much way to move around that area and produce innovative software to be used in defense sector.Share your opinions please. The current geopolitical situation seems to make this topic more popular.

mtmail · Accepted Answer

German Bundeswehr (army) works with startups https://www.cyberinnovationhub.de/en/innovation/join-in/star... https://www.cyberinnovationhub.de/en/innovation/innovation-p...

eb0la · Answer

You need to onboard someone who already worked for the goverment. Some companies were run by goverments before (like Indra), so having an ex-goverment official is the only way to compete here.
Another way to enter this market is doing some project with a big company. This means YOU do the work, and they pocket most of the money since they will have the consultants, PMs, etc while you have the developers and engineers.
Hard to enter. Not because regulations (only).