When we started the European Defense Tech Hub (EDTH), it was clear to us that we’d not just build a local network.
Even though we ran the first European Defense Tech Hackathon in Munich, Germany, in June 2024, we knew that defense and security are issues no country can solve on their own, especially in Europe. To have an impact, we needed to go international. And so we did, hosting two more hackathons in Copenhagen and Paris in late 2024, expanding all across Europe in 2025, and going fully global in 2026.
Our mission is international, connecting European founders, engineers, and policymakers with allies and partners worldwide—for many of whom the English-language standard is “Defense,” not “Defence.”
Outside of the British Commonwealth, most countries that publish their military or technology policy in English use “Defense.” In other words, “Defense” is not uniquely American — it is the prevailing English-language spelling across the global defense ecosystem.
For example, Ukraine’s government-backed innovation cluster BRAVE and the NATO Defense College in Rome use the “Defense” spelling in English, as well es plenty of MoDs, for example:
- Japan – Ministry of Defense
- South Korea – Ministry of National Defense
- Israel – Ministry of Defense
- Philippines – Department of National Defense
- Saudi Arabia – Ministry of Defense
- Turkey – Ministry of National Defense
- Argentina — Ministry of Defense
Running a quick Google search: “Defense” returns roughly 616 million results. “Defence” returns about 257 million results. (As of January 2026). This gives an idea of where the global conversation is happening and what terminology is used in industry, research, and technology.
Our aim is to empower European sovereignty while embedding it within the wider allied context and speaking the same language as the broader defense innovation community.
We’re not a ministry. We’re not an EU institution. We’re a network of founders, engineers, investors, and operators who work internationally by default. So even though it may sound like an oxymoron, we chose to spell “European Defense Tech Hub” with an “s.”
It represents our commitment to building a European ecosystem that is connected internationally rather than confined regionally.
European roots. Global mission.