While most American venture capitalists race to fund artificial intelligence companies or homegrown defense startups, Eric Slesinger is heading in an unexpected direction. The former CIA officer is finding opportunities in the European defense technology space, having raised a dedicated fund of twenty two million dollars exclusively for early stage startups on the continent.
His journey from developing specialized tools for intelligence agents to navigating the European investment world is anything but typical. Slesinger says he was motivated by noticing a key change that others seemed to overlook: private industry, not just governments, was becoming crucial to global defense competition.
Rather than follow the crowd, Slesinger leaned into his experience bridging security and business. With an education at Stanford and Harvard behind him, he feels at home taking unconventional risks, a trait that has made him a notable figure among both investors and founders.
He credits his years at the CIA with shaping that mindset, recalling the advice always to venture where others do not and attempt what others cannot. That same philosophy influenced his decision to focus on Europe, a region he believes is rich with ambitious entrepreneurs ready for the next challenge.
Shifting Attitudes Toward Defense Startups
According to Slesinger, American investors often underestimate three key points. First, Europe is full of driven tech founders; second, many European governments had neglected to reassess their defense postures for years; and third, the continent is now a central battleground for so-called gray zone conflicts—situations that fall between peace and open warfare.
Cultural reluctance continues to be one of Slesinger’s surprising hurdles in Europe, where investing in defense was once considered unsuitable for polite conversation. After relocating to Madrid in 2022, he helped launch a network for defense investors, uniting experts and policymakers who previously hesitated to even mention their involvement in the industry.
He describes a shift now underway, spurred partly by the NATO Innovation Fund, the first transnational VC fund of its kind, which supports ventures like Slesinger’s. The success of startups such as Helsing, a German company specializing in artificial intelligence for military use and now valued at over five billion dollars, has demonstrated the appetite for defense tech on the continent.
Slesinger’s firm, 201 Ventures, is also backing Athens-based Delian Alliance Industries, which focuses on surveillance to detect autonomous threats. With eight investments so far, his team is targeting technologies that address the messy realities of modern European security, including new forms of maritime drones and hypersonic tech.
The longer timeframes required for defense innovation create some tension when compared with traditional venture capital returns. Even so, Slesinger sees these so-called market dislocations, often spurred by shifting government roles, as opportunities for significant financial returns over time.
He urges European startups to become more assertive in policymaking circles early in their development. With global tensions prompting European governments to reconsider their defense investments, Slesinger’s initially lonely bet on the region is now starting to attract mainstream attention.
Recent data from the European defense startups and Dealroom reveals that capital raised by European defense startups surged twenty four percent in 2024 compared to the previous year, surpassing spending in artificial intelligence for the first time. With political uncertainty further increasing Europe’s urgency for self-reliance, the prospects for this growing sector appear brighter than ever.
