🚀 Vilnius Founders: Building and Scaling Deep Tech in Defence
​Defense and dual-use technologies are rapidly becoming one of Europe’s most important arenas for ambitious founders. But building in this space requires navigating a very different landscape: long procurement cycles, export controls, complex engineering, sensitive customers, and unconventional fundraising dynamics.
​At this Vilnius Founders meetup, we bring together both operators and investors working at the frontier of defense and deep tech.
​You’ll hear directly from founders building high-stakes engineering companies — and from an active investor shaping the Baltic deep tech ecosystem — on what it actually takes to start, fund, and scale in this category.
​Instead of slides and presentations, we focus on practical discussions:
​How to validate and win early defense customers
​How to build and scale complex technical teams
​How fundraising works in deep tech and defense today
​What investors actually look for in this space
​Expect candid conversations, tactical insights, and time to connect with other builders, operators, and investors in the ecosystem.
​No slides.
Practical takeaways.
Real founder and investor conversations.
​About Iron Wolf Capital
​Iron Wolf Capital is a VC fund investing in deep tech, dual-use, and defense companies across the Baltic region and beyond. The fund backs globally ambitious teams working in areas such as AI, robotics, photonics, cybersecurity, and defense infrastructure.
​Agenda
​17:30 — Doors open · networking
18:00 — Founder interview Audrius Zujus (Mainline) Building deep tech companies and strategic capabilities in Europe
18:35 — Founder interview Vytenis J. Buzas (Unmanned Defense Systems), Starting and scaling a defense tech startup
19:10 — Investor Q&A Viktoras Jucikas (Iron Wolf Capital)
How deep tech, dual-use, and defense startups get funded — and what investors are really looking for
19:40 — Open networking
21:00 — End
​Speakers
​Audrius Zujus — Co-Founder & CEO, Mainline
​Entrepreneur and deep-tech builder working on strategic technology capabilities in Europe. Previously Founder & CTO of Argyle and Co-Chair at NATO STO AVT-290.
​Vytenis J. Buzas — CEO & Co-Owner, Unmanned Defense Systems
​Experienced operator building complex engineering companies and products for high-stakes environments. Previously CEO & Co-Founder of NanoAvionics.
​Viktoras Jucikas — General Partner, Iron Wolf Capital
​General ​Partner at Iron Wolf Capital and Founder/CTO of Genus AI. Previously Founder/CTO of YPlan (acquired by Time Out Group) and quant at Goldman Sachs. Brings both the operator and investor perspectives on building globally competitive deep tech companies.
​About 🚀 Vilnius Founders
​Founder-driven meetups for builders and operators in Lithuania. No slides. No suits. Honest conversations, practical takeaways, and focused networking.