German-based Quantum-Systems, which supplies reconnaissance drones to Ukraine, is one company that has benefitted from this shift.
Quantum even picked up an investment from PayPal co-founder, Peter Thiel, along the way. He praised the company as being aBut Quantum is only getting started, according to Seibel. He said the war in Ukraine only bolstered his belief that Europe needed to double down on investment into defence tech and claw back its tech sovereignty from powerhouses like China and Russia.
The company's holistic approach to innovation means taking control of both its software, such as AI that can turn images into usable data, and its hardware, such as drone ports. Seibel isn't naive about the scale of the company's ambition. Investing in all areas takes time and money, he said,"it's really a mid to long-term play."The company's vision is relatively grand. Seibel wants Quantum to be able to supply a fully autonomous operation of reconnaissance drones that gather high-resolution, real-time data.