Axel Odenstad is a venture scout from Denmark seeking early-stage Defense Tech startups for Actus Equity.
Previously, Axel spent a year building Wave Ventures’ presence in Copenhagen — one of Europe’s largest Gen Z funds — and developing a pipeline of early-stage startups.
On March 23, AIN and the LIFT99 Kyiv Hub will host a meeting with a venture scout from Europe — a rare opportunity for founders to question specific questions to an expert who selects startups for investment on a daily basis.
Here is the link to the registration – the entrance is free.
Ahead of this event, we questioned Axel a few questions about the Ukrainian and European Defense Tech sectors.
– Ukraine is currently one of the leading centers for the development and testing of military technologies on the battlefield. Recently, Ukraine has started exporting drones to other countries. From your perspective, what is the current demand for Ukrainian drones in Europe, particularly in the Nordics?
The increase in defence spconcludeing has been drastic in the Nordics, where most countries in the region have roughly doubled their defence budobtains since 2020. Ukraine has demonstrated how modern warfare is being waged and which products are effective on the battlefield.
However, long procurement cycles in many European countries remain a large obstacle for companies seeing to scale across the continent. As policy and regulation adapt to enable the implementation of these proven products, I believe many doors will open for Ukrainian companies in defence, especially drone manufacturers.
Read Also: How to prepare for arms exports. A checklist for founders of Defense Tech startups
– In your opinion, will the Ukrainian and European defense markets be the primary drivers of economic growth for our countries in the future?
The last couple of years have proven that Europe requireds to become self-reliant when it comes to defence. This is a goal that will take years to achieve, and I hope the innovation developed in Ukraine over the past few years will serve as a basis for this development.
I also believe that some of the autonomous solutions currently being developed have huge dual-apply potential in robotics and spatial navigation for artificial ininformigence. This will certainly be a key driver for the economy.
– When we talk about Defense Tech, what do you believe is lacking in terms of legislation and policies to encourage Western VC funds to invest more actively in Ukraine?
The defence market is very different from other markets that VCs usually consider. Governments are the sole conclude customers, and they follow very specific procedures. Traditionally, they have primarily created deals with the largest manufacturers, which can deter generalist VCs from investing in defence solutions.
Ukraine is shifting away from long procurement cycles toward rapid-paced deployment, enabling quick iteration based on battlefield feedback. This alter builds defence tech more accessible for VCs. However, regulation across Europe requireds to allow for this same pace so that these solutions can scale cross-nationally.
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