Analysis

February 17, 2025

Defence tech hackers all in on AI and drones at Munich hackathon as Europe faces moment of uncertainty

The four-day event, coinciding with the Munich Security Conference, comes as the US declares a more protectionist stance


Anne Sraders

5 min read

The European Defence Tech Hub hackathon in Munich in February, 2025. Courtesy of Anne Sraders

It’s snowing about an hour outside Munich city centre, and a recruiter from German autonomous drone startup Quantum Systems jokes that it’s like “Christmas”. He isn’t referring to the weather though. Instead, he’s talking about the host of hardware parts the startup’s lending to engineers to help them build their startup ideas at a European Defence Tech Hub (EDTH) hackathon, a four-day event coinciding with the Munich Security Conference and the first in Ukrainian defence innovation platform Brave1’s Global Defence Tech Hackathon series. 

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Hackers at the EDTH Munich hackathon
Hackers at the EDTH Munich hackathon. Courtesy of Anne Sraders
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Anne Sraders

Anne Sraders is a senior reporter at Sifted, based in Berlin. She covers the venture capital industry and deeptech startups, including robotics, spacetech and defence tech. She also writes Sifted's weekly VC newsletter Up Round. Follow her on X and LinkedIn

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