Defense Fundraising Class
Overview
17 June | Hosted by TUM Venture Labs Aerospace & Defense
With more than 40 dedicated defense startups already active within the TUM Venture Labs ecosystem – and many additional dual-use and deep-tech teams increasingly exploring the defense sector – one challenge continues to come up repeatedly: fundraising.
Defense and dual-use startups face a very different investment environment compared to traditional software startups. Long procurement cycles, regulatory complexity, export considerations, hardware development costs, and the need for operational validation create unique challenges for founders and investors alike. At the same time, Europe’s rapidly changing security landscape has significantly increased interest in defense innovation from governments, industry, and venture capital.
To help founders better understand this landscape, we have created the first edition of the Defense Fundraising Class on 17 June in Munich.
The event is designed for founders, engineers, researchers, and defense innovators who want to better understand how venture capital, public funding, and scaling dynamics work within the defense and dual-use ecosystem.
Event Agenda
13:00 – Doors Open
13:15 – Welcome & Opening Remarks
Connor Rehn, TUM Venture Labs
13:20 – Netlight Startup Offering
Pro-bono and commercial support for TUM Venture Labs startups
Speaker: Niklas Rieder, Netlight
13:30 – Fundraising Basics
How fundraising works, investor expectations, common mistakes, timing, and positioning.
Speaker: Wolfgang Sachsenhofer, Kensho VC
14:05 – Pre-Seed & Early Validation
From idea to first traction in defense and dual-use markets
Speaker: Nicholas MacGowan von Holstein, Bifrost Defence
14:35 – Break
14:45 – Seed Round Strategy
Scaling beyond pilots, investor readiness, and navigating procurement realities Speaker: Wolfgang Sachsenhofer, Kensho VC
15:10 – Series A & Scaling
Internationalisation, government customers, production scaling, and NATO/EU relevance
Speaker: Luisa Buche, Fortino Capital
15:25 – Break
15:30 – European Funding & Government Programs
EDF grants, innovation funding, procurement-linked programs, and public financing mechanisms
Speaker: Martin Jõesaar, European Commission (online)
16:15 – Panel Discussion
An open discussion bringing everything together for founders – capital, procurement, scaling, due diligence, and operational feedback loops.
Moderated by Connor Rehn, with all in-person speakers and Benjamin Steer (Netlight)
17:30 – Networking
Looking forward to seeing you there!