Defense and resilience as the next frontier of impact? Interview w. Patrick Schneider-Sikorsky (NATO Innovation Fund) 🌐

Key insights:* Interview with Patrick Schneider-Sikorsky, Partner at NATO Innovation Fund (it took place live at GoWest in Sweden)* I know it’s risky and dodgy to talk about defensetech investments on an impact VC newsletter/podcast. I thought it was worth the risk to open up the discussion about what is defined by impact - is defense an impact topic if you operate in a war economy?* If you grew up in some parts of the Western World over the past 30 years, chances are you’ve never really had to think about defense. That reality is changing.* Defensetech is particular as most investments are deep-tech, capital-intensive, hardware-based, sold B2G, and require manufacturing to scale.* The three main barriers for defesentech to scale: 1. ESG exclusion criteria, 2. Hard to match the procurement criteria of states to win large contracts as start-ups, and 3. Limited demand signals.Agenda:* Why defense is back 🔙* Particularities of deep-tech in defense 🔬* Barriers for defensetech today 🚧* Selling B2G in defense 🏛️* Overlap between climate and resilience / security ♻️* Next steps for NIF 🧭 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit impactvc.substack.com