⚔️ Anduril’s new UK Arsenal; 🧠 SoftBank Acquires Chip Design; 📡Direct-to-Device Partnership; 🛡️ CIA-Backed exited stealth; 🔋 Metallurgical-Grade Silicon & more | Deep Tech Briefing #53
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Dear Friends,
This week’s briefing captures a turning point for deep tech as it enters its industrial era. Companies once considered moonshot bets are now building factories, signing defense contracts, and landing payloads on the Moon. Anduril’s proposed megafactory in the UK marks a strategic shift in how modern arsenals are built: scalable, autonomous, and locally manufactured.
Meanwhile, frontier energy is writing its next chapter. A fusion initiative has secured the site of a former German nuclear plant to demonstrate that laser-driven ignition can be accelerated. In parallel, researchers have overcome a key isotope bottleneck with a mercury-free isolation method—an essential milestone toward clean, scalable fusion fuel. Across the board, new materials and substrates are pushing performance boundaries in high-stress power environments.
Agri-bio is also stepping into the spotlight. One stealth-stage team is using generative AI to design synthetic proteins that could replace chemical pesticides—potentially transforming agriculture the way GPUs transformed AI. Another company is scaling up a CO₂-to-protein fermentation process to industrial levels, sidestepping the land, water, and infrastructure hurdles that constrain traditional and cell-based protein production.
And in orbit? Small launch systems are securing early customers, direct-to-device satellite networks are moving toward real-time global coverage, and hypersonic platforms are entering flight test campaigns. Both Europe and North America are advancing dual-use space technologies in lockstep with surging defense budgets.
Finally, capital is showing up with conviction. A $6.5B chip acquisition underscores SoftBank’s deepening commitment to Arm-native AI infrastructure. A leading pharma giant is making a $1B bet on in vivo cell therapy. And NVIDIA is staking its claim in Boston with a dedicated quantum research center—framing hybrid quantum-classical architectures not as a distant future, but as an emerging differentiator.
It’s becoming clear: the next industrial wave won’t just be smart—it’ll be autonomous, additive, and increasingly aligned with national strategic goals.
Enjoy the read!
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In Today's Briefing
The Big Idea – Anduril doubles down on Europe: the defense-tech unicorn is planning a UK-based megafactory to mass-produce AI-powered weapons systems—signaling a strategic pivot toward modular, scalable, and autonomous arsenals made in Europe.
The Key Updates – Fusion gets a second life at a former German nuclear site. CO₂ is turned into protein at industrial scale, and engineered biomolecules challenge chemical pesticides. A major chip acquisition strengthens the Arm-native stack, while small launchers secure early deals. Direct-to-device satellite networks expand in Europe, and new aerospace platforms push toward hypersonic and edge-of-space operations.
Breakthroughs and Discoveries – A deep-UV laser could reshape chipmaking, while solar-to-hydrogen panels reach new efficiency milestones. Lithium-6 extraction gets cleaner, unlocking a key step for fusion. Satellites begin mapping the seafloor via gravity, RNA barcoding tracks gene flow in real time, and new substrates boost power electronics under extreme loads.
Deep Tech Power Plays – U.S. space ambitions get codified in a sweeping AIA roadmap. The EU puts €1.1B behind solar, advanced materials, and circular manufacturing, while its new €800B defense strategy aims to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers.
Interesting Reading:
If you’re hungry for more context, here are a few curated links:
🧠 Network effects: How well-connected VCs lower failure rates and boost returns – New data suggests that a VC's network strength can meaningfully influence startup success. PitchBook.
🍽️ FSA launches pioneering regulatory programme for cell-cultivated products – The UK becomes the first in Europe to set a clear path for cultivated food approval. Food Standards Agency.
🌾 US agrifoodtech funding up 14% in 2023, driven by AI investment – AI is fast becoming the core driver of innovation (and funding) in agrifoodtech. AgFunderNews.
🥫 Industry groups ask for tariff exemptions to bolster American canned food production – Aluminum and steel tariffs are under scrutiny as domestic food manufacturers seek relief. FoodDive.
🚀 Space Force unveils strategic plan for AI integration – A roadmap for how the U.S. military intends to weave AI into space operations. SpaceNews.
🧬 Healthtech VCs Look to AI for Next Wave of Returns – With digital health cooling off, investors see AI as the next big lever. The Wall Street Journal.
🌍 How a shifting market and turbulent politics created a perfect storm for climate tech founders – Climate tech startups are facing an identity crisis amid market contraction and investor hesitancy. Sifted.
🔬 Traditional VC model not enough for deep science: Social Alpha founder – A call for mission-driven capital to support high-risk, high-impact science ventures. Business Standard.
The Big Idea:
From Silicon Valley to the UK: Anduril’s Next Arsenal
There’s been a quiet but decisive shift in how defense systems are being designed and produced, and the latest move by Anduril Industries captures the moment. The California-based company, founded in 2017 by Palmer Luckey and known for AI-driven autonomous systems, is evaluating the construction of a drone and weapons factory in the United Kingdom. If confirmed, the new facility would replicate its Ohio-based “Arsenal-1” megafactory—currently a $1 billion, 5-million-square-foot complex aimed at mass-producing autonomous systems across domains.
This move aligns with a broader trend: