​Defence Track: From Frontline to Frontier — Investing in Europe's Defense Future

​Ukraine has become the world's most advanced defense tech testing ground — and the companies emerging from it are reshaping how Europe thinks about security, supply chains, and capital deployment. This track brings investors face-to-face with the people building at the edge: frontline operators who know what actually works under fire, Ukrainian manufacturers scaling through international joint ventures, and the funders and policymakers shaping where the capital goes next.

​Expect direct, unfiltered conversations — not panels rehearsing talking points, but operators and founders speaking plainly about what's needed, what's hype, and where investors can have real impact today.

​Agenda

​9:45 — Frontline Briefing for Investors

• ​Moderator:

  • ​Mykyta Puz, Lieutenant, Defence Industry Liaison Officer within the command of the 1st Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine “Azov”.

• ​Panelists:

  • ​Oleksii Rudenko, Head of Partnerships and Technological Development of Anti-Aircraft Missile and Artillery Battalion "Strazh", 1st Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine “Azov”.

  • ​Mykola Stryebkov, EW/SIGINT Desk Officer, 413 Regiment “Raid”, Unmanned Systems Forces of Ukraine

  • ​Representative of the 3rd Army Corps of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

• ​What this covers: Operators share frontline needs. Direct, unfiltered insight into what is actually needed on the frontline versus hype, what works and does not work in real conditions, and where capital can have the highest impact.

​10:30 — Keynote - The Deterrence Opportunity

• ​Gentry Lane, CEO & Founder of Nemesis Global

• ​Critical goods and service providers are the first and last line of defense in modern total war. Persistently targeted for cyber and kinetic assault by the four major threat actors, the current model of “each company for itself” is not a viable defense strategy. However, this quandary presents a compelliing opportunity for both investment and military-civilian cooperation. This talk will discuss turning frontline targets into frontline deterrents and how all stakeholders can benefit.

​12:00-13:00 — Lunch Break

13:00 — Building Europe’s Frontier Defence: International Collaboration at Scale

• ​Moderator:

  • ​Volodymyr Cherniuk, CEO @ IRON cluster

• ​Panelists:

  • ​Štefan Fule, U&C & UAS

  • ​Anna Růžičková, CEO at S-tech Ventures

  • ​Ukrainian OEM

• ​A cross-sector discussion bringing together Ukrainian and international stakeholders from industry, investment and the defence ecosystem to explore how partnerships can accelerate Europe’s defence capabilities. What does it take to turn shared interests into working partnerships, scale production across borders, and build a stronger, more resilient European defence industry?

​13:30 - Keynote - Finnish experience of cooperation between primes and startups

• ​Juha Välimäki, Senior Project Manager @ Patria

​13:40 - Fireside Chat - Ukrainian startup ecosystem and its potential

• ​Oles Kuhodba, Co-founder Double Tap Investments

• ​Petr Šíma, Depo Ventures

​14:00-15:00 — Defence Pitches (on Startup stage)

​17:00 - 20:00 — Defense & Resilience Reception - separate registration required:

​THE EVENT IS FREE FOR ENGAGED INVESTMENTS CONFERENCE TICKET HOLDERS.