When Canberra startup founder Rhys Kissell arrived back in Australia from visiting a defence technology showcase in Ukraine, he joked with friends that you can’t walk down the street in Kyiv without tripping over a venture capitalist.
But it’s not really a joke, he says. It’s barely even an exaggeration.
“There are investors from the United States and from all through Europe… looking to support defense tech companies,” Mr Kissell says.
“Because they understand that the world is unfortunately not getting more peaceful, and that these defence tech companies that actually have [real-world contemporary] experience,” he said.
“That’s the future of the defence sector. [Ukraine is] a very dynamic, interesting place to be.”
Mr Kissell is an electronic engineer who has specialised in the electromagnetic spectrum. He is ex-Navy specialising in electronic warfare. And more recently he is the founder and chief executive of early-stage dual-use tech startup Panop.
In this episode of the Commercial Disco, Mr Kissell talks about travelling to Ukraine, meeting with local military and industry partners, and engaging with the battlefield data that is driving innovation – not just in Ukraine but across its allied and friendly nations.
When he founded Panop, the war in Ukraine was already underway and the battlefield had quickly evolved into the paramount use of drone and counter-drone technologies, an area he felt he could make a contribution.
“And as an Aussie, I looked at what was happening in Ukraine, and I thought that is not right. There’s unprovoked aggression going on,” Mr Kissell told the Commercial Disco.
“A very autocratic nation was attacking a nation that has democratic aspirations and is doing its best to move towards ideals like the rule of law and strong institutions, and putting a high value on human rights.
“So, there was that ideological component, absolutely, that drove me towards wanting to help Ukraine in some way. And seeing the Australian government provide support to the Ukraine, in my mind gave me license to do what I can [to help].
“Electronic warfare is incredibly important. It always has been, but there’s an argument to be made that electronic warfare and the electromagnetic spectrum are actually becoming decisive in modern conflict.
“So having a radio frequency engineering background is quite niche in the world of electrical engineering. I thought somebody should do something, but in this case, that somebody was me.”
Panop is working on two product lines tailored for electronic warfare purposes, the PlatypOS software and a Lyrebird software defined hardware device. Mr Kissell goes into substantial detail about the products in this podcast – as well as the potential civilian uses for this dual-use tech.
The company is in its early stages of raising money and has had some soft commitments from Australian venture capital firms. But Panop is also looking for a substantial European investor, because of the amount being invested there and the proximity to Ukraine.
“We think the European market is really the most exciting market there is in defence at the moment,” Mr Kissell said.
“This might be a little unusual for a defense startup to say, because historically everyone says the US is the place to go.
“But countries in the EU and particularly Germany are spending vast sums of money, and they’re much less protectionist than the US.
“So it’s a very interesting market for us, and particularly the proximity to Ukraine is a massive value-add as well.”
Do you know more? Contact James Riley via Email.