Why Ukraine Is Europe's Defence-Tech Lab: Varangians' Andreas Flodström

Key points

Key takeaways from the EU-Startups interview with Varangians co-founder and chairman Andreas Flodström (September ️2026):

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From Beetroot to defence-tech. Flodström traces his route from building the Swedish-Ukrainian tech ecosystem Beetroot to investing in Ukraine's DefenceTech sector, with more than a decade of building companies in Ukraine shaping his view of resilience, engineering and innovation.

A frontline-tested thesis. Varangians is a DefenceTech-focused investment fund backing Ukrainian technologies developed and tested in demanding frontline conditions; with more than €10 million raised, it has invested in companies including Norda Dynamics, Himera and Sine Engineering, spanning autonomous UAV systems, secure communications and technologies for contested environments.

Sweden–Ukraine, in a name. The interview unpacks the history behind the Varangians name and its connection between Sweden and Ukraine — the Norse warrior-traders who once travelled the river routes through the region, giving the fund a name that ties Scandinavian capital to Ukrainian engineering.

Defence vs dual-use. The conversation weighs the balance between DefenceTech and dual-use technologies, the responsibilities involved in investing in defence, and what Europe can learn from Ukraine's rapid development of drones, electronic warfare and secure communications.

Is capital keeping up? With approximately €667 million in disclosed European DefenceTech and adjacent dual-use startup funding covered in 2026, alongside almost €3 billion in announced investment capacity across new funds and vehicles, Flodström discusses whether enough capital is reaching the sector and what Europe needs to do next.

Read more: EU-Startups on YouTube