For
Start-ups
Your next investor or customer is in this room. Founders building AI, defence and dual-use technology meet the investors, primes and defence buyers who can fund and deploy what they build, and learn from practitioners what works in the field today.
- Axelera AI × DoD Solution
- A strategic partnership that started with a meeting at the 2026 summit.
- 3
- Start-ups won at the 2026 Startup Awards.
get seen in one day
Meet investors who back defence tech
VCs, corporate VCs and funds investing in defence and dual-use come to find their next deal. Defence is now the fastest-growing sector of European venture capital.
Get in front of primes and defence buyers
Much of Europe's defence spending with smaller companies still flows through the primes. Meet the primes scouting for new partners, alongside procurement and innovation teams from defence institutions.
Pitch on the main stage
Apply to the competition by 31 December. 15 finalists are announced on 15 January and judged by an independent expert jury. Three winners pitch on stage on 1 March, with over €30,000 in prizes.
Learn from the people who buy and use it
Three tracks (Capital & Policy, Hybrid Warfare, Autonomy & Hardware) with speakers from the Commission, NATO, the Estonian Defence Forces and Thales on what works today and what buyers need next.
meet
Partners
The Summit is made possible through the support of organisations committed to shaping the future of AI in defence.
Your product,
on the summit floor
The Startup Village is a curated exhibition space at SQUARE Brussels for defence, dual-use and AI start-ups. Your team and product are on the summit floor all day, in front of ministers, NATO and EU officials, procurement leads and investors.
- 01
Pitch to the VIPs
Every exhibitor gets the chance to present to ministers, NATO and EU officials, procurement leads and investors.
- 02
Seen before you arrive
A feature in the summit magazine and a listing on the entrance totem.
- 03
Limited places
Places in the village are limited. The brochure has the stand options and prices.
started here
From a meeting to a partnership
After connecting at AIDEF 2026, Estonian-Ukrainian defence tech company DoD Solution and Dutch AI chipmaker Axelera AI announced a strategic partnership in August 2026. Together they are building on-board AI for high-speed interceptors, with Axelera's Metis chips running DoD Solution's AURA autonomy platform.
“I am very proud that Dropla Tech has been recognized as the ‘Best Ukrainian Startup’ during the Pitching Session, which featured a number of very strong and promising startups across AI and defence.”
Björn Pötter, Dropla Tech
“For us, it was a chance to present our vision for how AI in defence should evolve through our product.”
Babayte
How do I enter the Startup Awards?
Apply through the Startup Awards page by 31 December. It is open to start-ups based in the EU, Norway, Iceland, the UK, Ukraine and Canada. 15 finalists are announced on 15 January, an independent expert jury picks three winners, and they pitch on stage on 1 March.
We're early stage. Is this for us?
Yes. The competition and the Startup Village are open to early-stage teams, and many investors in the room invest at seed and pre-seed.
Where and when?
1 March 2027, SQUARE Brussels.