How (Startup) Innovators Are Fighting to Transform Europe’s Defense System

French Tech Brussels is organizing its first event dedicated to innovation in DefenseTech:

This event, designed as a breakfast discussion from 7:30 AM to 11:00 AM, will be held entirely in English on May 21st at BNP Paribas’s auditorium on Rue Royale in Brussels and aims to create synergies between industrial players, institutions, and startups/scaleups to jointly explore the challenges and opportunities in the defense sector. 

Why join? Here are some of the topics that we will cover:

• Europe’s DefenseTech Race: Can Startups Out Innovate the Primes?
• Follow the Money: How to Fund DefenseTech’s Future
• Clash of Cultures: Making Startups and Militaries Work Together
• The Talent War: Who Will Build Europe’s Defense Future?

Detailed Schedule:

• 7:30 AM – 8:15 AM: Coffee reception and networking.

• 8:15 AM – 8:35 AM: Welcome & Introduction (15 min) to the panel on DefenseTech in Europe by Antoon Boeykens (Agoria BSDI).

• 8:40 AM – 9:35 AM: Panel Discussion (55 min) with representatives from:

  • Moderator : Coralie Magonet (The Nine - Women in Tech)

  • European Institutions : Mrs Dinka Dinkova from EUDIS/DG DEFIS

  • Military Innovation : Lieutenant General Van Strythem, Belgian Defence’s first Chief Innovation Defence (CID)

  • Industry : Bernard Clermont (John Cockerill Defense)

  • Financing: Mrs Julie Dossogne from BNP Paribas Fortis

  • Scale-ups: Mme Pauline Martre from Alta Ares (FR) & Mr Thomas Petracca from Senhive (BE): a Belgian-French perspective (anti-drones technology)

• 9:40 AM – 9:50 AM: Pitches from 5-6 startups (10 min total).

• 9:55 AM – 11:00 AM: Networking & breakfast - drinks and pastries (>45 min).

With the support of our main event partner:

and our organization partner

Our French Tech Brussels strategic partner;

Community partners :