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August 15, 2025

‘The biggest lab we see in the world for defence’: How Darkstar’s bootcamps give founders live battlefield testing in Ukraine

The Estonian coalition also announced recently it's raising a €25m fund to invest in military tech


Tom Nugent

8 min read

Jeffrey Katz has more than a dozen contacts in Ukraine he can ping if he wants to live test the latest version of his company’s AI ‘brain’ for autonomous drones. 

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Someone working on their tech at one of Darkstar's bootcamps.
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A drone on a table
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Tom Nugent

Tom Nugent is Sifted’s managing editor. He covers robotics, chips and university spinouts. Follow him on X and LinkedIn

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