Defence Tech Meetup #1: Building a Defence Innovation Ecosystem
On June 25, 2024, Lisbon hosted the inaugural Portugal Defence Tech Meetup, bringing together defence officials, tech entrepreneurs, and investors to explore how innovation can serve national security goals. The event aimed to help kickstart a stronger defence tech ecosystem in Portugal by connecting traditional defence stakeholders with emerging technology players.
Focusing on NATO’s Emerging and Disruptive Technologies (EDTs), the first edition reflected the current environment of rapid innovation and the urgency of ensuring that the Alliance maintains its strategic and dominant position. This first event revolved around drones and anti-drone warfare (autonomy), but not only.
Maria Luísa Moreira, founder of The Diplomat’s Cabinet, moderated a high-level discussion on venture capital’s role in strengthening Europe’s defence ecosystem. The panel What are the smart investments that Portuguese VCs can do in Defence Tech brought together leading investors and industry voices, including Rodolfo Condessa (Armilar Ventures), Rui Pereira (SquareBase Capital), Ricardo Sequerra (Point Nine), and Ricardo Conde (Portugal Space). The discussion focused on practical barriers to scaling defence startups, like low investor confidence, fragmented procurement systems, and the disconnect between public funding and commercial growth.
The remaining programme included:
Historical context. A look at the evolution of Portugal's military industry from the 1970s to today — from post-revolution re-industrialization to present-day ambitions in space and NATO innovation initiatives.
Dual-use innovation. Speakers made the case for fostering dual-use technologies and creating better conditions for ICT, AI, and aerospace startups to scale in national and European markets.
Procurement and acceleration. Key proposals included updating procurement frameworks, creating a defence accelerator, and making military-industrial cooperation more accessible to new entrants.
Geopolitics and resilience. Beyond tech, the event underscored the need for defence innovation that strengthens European strategic autonomy and resilience in the face of accelerating geopolitical risk.
Organized by Productized in partnership with the Estonian Founders Society, The Defence Tech Meetup is an invitation-only event that gathers representatives of the government and armed forces, researchers, defence sector companies, associations, investors, and technology developers looking for a platform to discuss current challenges, ideas, and collaboration opportunities.
The full programme is available on Productized’s event page.
Photo: Productized