Analysis

February 26, 2025

What Germany’s new government means for defence startups: ‘I see a silver lining’

Some defence tech founders are cautiously optimistic about defence spending under the new government


Germany's new chancellor Friedrich Merz faces hurdles to increase defence spending

Incoming German chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative party may have won last weekend’s election – but it remains unclear exactly what that means for the nation’s startups, particularly those focused on defence. 

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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

Miriam Partington

Miriam Partington was a senior reporter at Sifted, based in Berlin. She covered the DACH region and the future of work, and wrote Startup Life , a weekly newsletter on what it takes to build a startup.

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The people, companies and trends shaping European AI and deeptech.