Quantum enters Europe's defence tech boom
Defence tech and dual-use products, which used to be a de-facto taboo for most VCs in Europe, have seen a significant uptick in funding over the past few years. The reasons for this shift are obvious if you skim through today’s media headlines: with Russia’s continuing invasion of Ukraine and the prospect of a full-scale ground war in the Middle East, supporting domestic defence capabilities has never been more important.
In fact, a report?released yesterday by Dealroom ?forecasts the funding of European defence tech startups to reach $1bn this year — a fivefold increase compared to 2018.
One interesting part of the defence tech industry is quantum, which has seen attention from the likes of NATO growing over the past couple of years. One example is Ephos, a quantum photonic chips manufacturer, which was backed by NATO’s DIANA programme last year and just announced a fresh $8.5mn capital injection .
Another example is Aquark Technologies, a Southampton-based startup that just raised €5mn from the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF). The deal marks NIF’s first foray into the quantum ecosystem — but definitely not the last.
Aquark is currently working in the field of quantum sensing, which can be applied to quantum navigation. Very simply speaking, the tech could allow for prolonged dead-reckoning, meaning navigating without validating your position externally (through GPS, for instance). This, in turn, could prove to be a great way to fight GPS spoofing and loss of signal, as all measurements are performed on the spot.
Check out the story by Linnea Ahlgren for more (nerdy) details on Aquark’s product.??
Andrii Degeler Head of Media, TNW
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