Welcome to a new episode of the EUVC Podcast, where we bring you the people and perspectives shaping European venture.
This week,
sits down with
, founding GP of
, the new defense-first fund going all in on the blunt reality of European strategic autonomy.
Nicholas is no newcomer to this. From advising governments to serving in Afghanistan, launching syndicates, or building dual-use bridges when few wanted to touch defense, he’s stayed on the same mission while the market shifted all around him.
In this episode, Nicholas breaks down why Europe needs unapologetic defense-first investing, why dual-use alone won’t cut it, and what founders, LPs, and co-investors must face up to if they’re serious about Europe’s sovereignty.
Here’s what’s covered:
- 00:00 | Nicholas Nelson’s journey: from service to syndicates to Archangel
- 02:00 | Two decades of doing defense before it was cool
- 04:00 | Why now? Why real defense? Why not just dual-use?
- 07:00 | The war tech shift: tanks out, rapid iteration in
- 10:00 | Ukraine’s ‘hourly sprints’—why on-the-ground matters
- 13:00 | Deterrence, lethality & Europe’s strategic gap
- 16:00 | When dual-use brands muddy the water (and why that’s risky)
- 19:00 | The bullets & bombs dilemma: investing when LPs say no
- 22:00 | Primes, vendor lock & the truth about the military industrial complex
- 26:00 | ESG tensions: Europe’s extra layer of complexity
- 30:00 | The pan-European Anduril myth—why it doesn’t map
- 34:00 | Local vs. pan-European scaling: what’s realistic
- 37:00 | Exit routes & why the big growth rounds go abroad
- 40:00 | The flywheel we didn’t get to—coming in part two
