At Israel Tech Week in Miami, OpImpact joined industry leaders on the "Deep Tech as the New Frontier" panel to discuss scaling and deploying deep tech across energy, infrastructure, and national security. OpImpact bridges the gap between innovation and commercialization by advancing startups to TRL 6+ alongside Prime contractors. This approach shortens development cycles, accelerates time to revenue, and often turns Prime contractors from technology validators into the startup's first paying customer.

Behind the headlines of the Iran conflict, a deeper convergence is shaping global security. At a Miami Beach investor event titled “Two Allies. One Front,” we explored the integration of Israeli and American forces, combining human coordination with advanced defense technologies. With record defense spending and rising venture capital into DefenseTech, global capital is pivoting toward security innovation. OpImpact continues to invest in technologies driving this allied operational and technological convergence.

The “First AI War” reflects today’s battlefield reality, as reported by Yedioth Ahronoth. Air defense, intelligence, robotics, and maritime systems are rapidly evolving through AI adoption in active conflict. Our portfolio company FlyWorks develops hybrid drones enabling field deployment of AI systems, shifting from civil to defense use. Partnerships with defense primes such as Elbit Systems Israel accelerate integration and access to elite startups. OpImpact backs AI-native, dual-use companies shaping next-generation defense.

Eden Attias was joined by Michael Gale, CEO of Abu Dhabi based Al Liwan Group, for a TV interview on Israel’s Economy Channel 10. We discussed the structural shift in defense toward faster, scalable, and cost-efficient deployment, driven by rising budgets and urgency. Investor models are evolving, with new players focused on regulation, geopolitics, and industrial scale execution. We also addressed AI’s impact on warfare and demanding higher standards of data and model quality.

The OpImpact panel at DefenseTech Expo brought a clear consensus: DefenseTech is now a standalone investment category. We highlighted a structural shift in global security requiring rapid adaptation across governments, primes, investors, and founders. Capital alone is no longer enough. We expanded beyond the US, emphasizing Europe, GCC, and Asia as active shapers of the market. Key themes included cross-border alliances for scaling, information velocity over capital, emerging global strategic investors, and resilience in long defense cycles.

At the MSC Munich Security Conference panel “Factories First: who builds Europe’s capability at scale and how startups win,” the message was clear. Europe cannot outsource its security. The challenge is not innovation but industrial architecture. Real capability equals production capacity, procurement efficiency, and scaled delivery. This is about procurement redesign for alliance-scale competition, combining startup speed with prime infrastructure. DefenseTech is now industrial strategy and economic sovereignty for Europe.

At Axis Innovation in New York, Brig. Eden Attias shared a keynote on the global shift in dual-use technology. Commercial capabilities are now moving into defense at speed, driven by scale and cost efficiency rather than traditional spillover. This creates new market access for corporates and industrials, alongside need for operating model that de-risks innovation and accelerates adoption. At OpImpact, we bridge innovators with defense primes enabling real-world deployment globally.