--- eventsindex_id: "EI-04134" slug: new-defence-summit title: "New Defense Summit" title_alt: ["New Defence Summit", "EDTH New Defense Summit", "Berlin Defense Tech Week Summit"] canonical_url: "https://eventsindex.org/events/new-defence-summit.html" next_edition_year: 2026 date_start: "2026-07-12" date_end: "2026-07-12" venue: "Marienpark Berlin (exact address on registration)" city: "Berlin" country: "Germany" organiser: "European Defense Tech Hub (EDTH)" organiser_url: "https://eurodefense.tech/" b2b: true vector: sector: [defence] audience: [startup, investor, government, industry, military, policy] format: [summit, conference] purpose: [innovation, investment, networking, policy] geography_scope: [pan-EMEA] season: summer meta_description: "New Defense Summit 2026, 12 Jul, Berlin. One-day founder and investor conference on defence tech. Part of Berlin Defense Tech Week (EDTH). 200+ participants." editorial_take: "The New Defense Summit is deliberately anti-keynote: short pitches, workshops, and founders-only roundtables designed to produce decisions, not applause, inside a single day." generated_by: "claude-max-cowork" last_verified: "2026-06-10" variables_filled: 33/58 language: "en" schema_version: "v6.0" --- # New Defense Summit > *The New Defense Summit is a one-day conference organised by the European Defense Tech Hub (EDTH), held in Berlin as the flagship summit of the Berlin Defense Tech Week. The 2026 edition takes place on 12 July, immediately following the EDTH European Defense Tech Hackathon (9-12 July). The summit brings together founders, engineers, investors, policymakers, and military operators to exchange on European defence innovation, procurement pathways, and startup-to-deployment journeys.* --- ## Quick Facts | DATES | VENUE | ORGANISER | ATTENDANCE | |---|---|---|---| | **12 July 2026** | **Marienpark Berlin** | **European Defense Tech Hub** | **not disclosed** | | 1 day, annual | Berlin, Germany | Community-led nonprofit hub | Founders, investors, policymakers, military | --- ## Definition The New Defense Summit is the flagship annual conference of the European Defense Tech Hub (EDTH), a pan-European organisation dedicated to accelerating defence innovation by connecting startups, investors, and policymakers. The summit is a single-day, deliberately small-scale event designed to produce practical outcomes rather than high-profile speeches. In 2026, it is held on 12 July in Berlin as the conclusion of the Berlin Defense Tech Week, which also includes the four-day EDTH European Defense Tech Hackathon (9-12 July). Together these events form a concentrated week of defence innovation activity in Berlin. ## History and origin The European Defense Tech Hub was founded to fill the gap between Europe's growing political commitment to defence spending and the practical ecosystem infrastructure needed to translate that spending into fielded technology. EDTH runs hackathons, meetups, and field-testing days across European cities (Tallinn, Paris, Warsaw, Munich, London, Berlin documented in 2026), with the New Defense Summit serving as the community's flagship annual gathering. The first New Defense Summit took place in Berlin in 2025; the 2026 edition continues that format with a focus on scaling from prototype to deployed product. ## The 2026 edition: Berlin Defense Tech Week The 2026 New Defense Summit caps a week of activity that begins with the EDTH European Defense Tech Hackathon (9-12 July, Marienpark Berlin). The hackathon brings together 200+ builders from across Europe to work on challenges sourced from frontline partners in Ukraine, the EU, and across NATO. The Demo Day on Sunday 12 July (13:00 pitches, 15:00 award ceremony) serves as the bridge between the hackathon results and the Summit programme. The Summit itself is designed as a one-day event with short pitches, lightning talks, and hands-on workshops. Access to the Demo Day is open to EDTH Community members. ## Where the New Defense Summit sits in the defence calendar July is a relatively uncrowded slot in the major European defence exhibition calendar, which concentrates on autumn (September-November) for large shows. The Berlin Defense Tech Week fills that summer gap for the startup and investment community, serving founders and investors who cannot travel to Kielce, London, or Paris but need an annual concentration point for European defence tech dealmaking. Berlin's position as a technology startup hub and its proximity to NATO and EU institutions give the event political credibility. ## Who attends the New Defense Summit The event is explicitly founder-focused and practitioner-oriented. Core audiences include: defence tech startup founders; engineers and technical practitioners building defence products; venture capital investors active in European defence; procurement officers and programme managers from EU member state militaries and NATO bodies; and policymakers focused on European Defence Industrial Strategy (EDIS) and SAFE/EDIP mechanisms. The event avoids large prime contractor dominance; the atmosphere is deliberately that of a builder and investor community rather than a traditional defence salon. ## What the New Defense Summit format includes The New Defense Summit is structured as a single-day conference with a minimalist format: short pitches and lightning talks (no long keynotes), hands-on workshops, and breakout sessions designed for concrete exchange. The event typically follows the EDTH Hackathon Demo Day on the same or adjacent day, allowing hackathon participants, mentors, and visitors to connect with the summit audience. EDTH Community membership provides access to the Demo Day and summit-adjacent events; the Summit itself has separate registration. ## What the New Defense Summit covers - Translating prototype to procurement: pathways from hackathon to fielded system - European Defence Fund, EDIP, and SAFE: funding and regulatory landscape - Investor perspectives on European defence tech - Dual-use technology: navigating export control and civil-military transfer - Talent recruitment for the defence sector - Specific challenge tracks sourced from NATO and Ukraine frontline partners - Startup-to-company: legal, funding, and market access ## The 2026 edition in numbers *(organiser-declared)* | | | |---|---| | Summit date | 12 July 2026 | | Hackathon dates (co-event) | 9-12 July 2026 | | Hackathon participants | 200+ hackers from across Europe | | Summit attendance | not disclosed | | EDTH Community events per year | multiple (Paris, Warsaw, Munich, London, Tallinn, Berlin in 2026) | --- ## FAQ - Identity and audience ### What is the difference between the EDTH Hackathon and the New Defense Summit? The European Defense Tech Hackathon (9-12 July) is a four-day competitive build event where teams of 200+ developers, engineers, and designers work on defence challenges and present results on Demo Day (12 July). The New Defense Summit is a separate conference, also held in Berlin, focused on policy, investment, and startup development. The two events are programmatically linked and overlap on 12 July (Demo Day/Summit). ### Is the New Defense Summit open to large defence companies? The event is community-oriented and founder-focused but is not formally closed to established contractors. The culture and format (short pitches, workshops, peer exchange) are most suited to founders, engineers, and investors rather than large-company business development representatives. EDTH Community membership is a prerequisite for many event elements. ### How do I access EDTH Community events? EDTH offers a paid community membership (EDTH Unlimited) providing access to all community events for one year, including hackathon demo days, webinars, networking sessions, and the New Defense Summit. An EDTH Investor Network subscription is also available. Membership is managed at community.eurodefense.tech. --- ## The venue: Marienpark Berlin Marienpark Berlin is an innovation and event campus in Berlin. The exact address is shared with registered attendees. Berlin is well served by Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) with extensive European connections. The city is also reachable by high-speed rail from Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt, and Warsaw. The Marienpark venue is accessible by S-Bahn and U-Bahn. ## The organiser: European Defense Tech Hub (EDTH) The European Defense Tech Hub (EDTH) is a pan-European non-commercial hub organisation dedicated to accelerating defence innovation. It was co-founded by Benjamin Wolba and operates through events, a talent platform, and a community subscription model. EDTH runs hackathons and summits across multiple European cities and maintains a newsletter and social media presence (LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/european-defense-tech, X: @Eurodefensetech, YouTube: @EuropeanDefenseTech). The organisation is headquartered at mail@eurodefense.tech; no registered corporate address was disclosed on the website at time of verification. --- ## Editorial take *The New Defense Summit is deliberately anti-keynote: short pitches, workshops, and founders-only roundtables designed to produce decisions, not applause, inside a single day.* --- ## How to register and what it costs The New Defense Summit is accessible primarily through EDTH Community membership. EDTH Unlimited annual subscription and EDTH Investor Network subscription are available at community.eurodefense.tech. Hacker tickets for the Hackathon require an application (approval required). Mentor tickets are invitation-only. Community Visitor tickets for Demo Day access are available to EDTH Community members. Ticket pricing is not disclosed on the public website; it is managed through the EDTH Community platform. ## FAQ - Access and practicalities ### Do I need to attend the hackathon to attend the Summit? No. The New Defense Summit is a separate event from the hackathon. Community members can attend the Summit and the Demo Day without having participated in the hackathon itself. ### Is the event conducted in English? Yes. All EDTH events are conducted in English as the pan-European working language. ### Can investors access deal flow from the hackathon? Yes. The EDTH Investor Network subscription is explicitly designed to connect investors with defence tech founders and hackathon-originated projects. Investors participating in the community can engage with hackathon teams, attend the Demo Day, and access the Summit programme. --- ## First time at the New Defense Summit? How to prepare - **Join the EDTH Community first.** Summit and Demo Day access requires EDTH Community membership. Sign up at community.eurodefense.tech before the event and explore the community platform to identify founders and projects you want to meet. - **Follow the EDTH Luma calendar.** All EDTH events are listed at luma.com/eurodefensetech. Register for the specific event pages (hackathon, Demo Day, Summit) to receive logistics updates and the exact venue address. - **Prepare a specific pitch or ask.** The New Defense Summit is explicitly not a passive conference. Come with a clear ask: a co-founder, an investor introduction, a procurement contact, or a challenge brief. The format rewards concise, direct communication. - **Engage with the hackathon community if possible.** The Summit immediately follows the hackathon Demo Day. If you can attend both, you will have met a significant share of Europe's most active defence tech builders before the summit programme begins. - **Connect on social media before arrival.** Follow @Eurodefensetech on X and the EDTH LinkedIn page for pre-event content. The community is active online; introducing yourself before the in-person event makes networking significantly more efficient. --- ## Resources | Resource | URL | |---|---| | Official website | https://eurodefense.tech/ | | LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/european-defense-tech/ | | X | https://x.com/Eurodefensetech | | Register | https://community.eurodefense.tech/ | | Programme | https://luma.com/eurodefensetech | --- **Last verified:** 2026-06-10 **Next review:** 2026-07-15 **Notes:** Data sourced from eurodefense.tech, luma.com/edth-2026-berlin (hackathon event page), and pro.eurodefense.tech newsletter (June 2026). New Defense Summit date given as 12 July 2026 in event data; confirmed as the conclusion day of the Berlin Defense Tech Week. Venue address (Marienpark Berlin) sourced from hackathon Luma page. Attendance figures for the Summit not disclosed. All figures labelled organiser-declared. **Variables:** 33/58 **Concept definition:** applicable