Sometimes, you meet serial entrepreneurs who are brands in their own right, with a bounty of social media posts, articles, talks, and podcasts. Others fly under the radar, building quietly but no less impactful.
German serial entrepreneur Niclas Braun is one of the latter. He is the co-founder and CEO of EISENHERZ Defense Technologies, a US-German company that is shaking up the future of innovation in defencetech through a novel defence-as-a-service approach. I spoke to Braun and his co-founder, COO Julian Wiebke, to learn how they are bringing a new mindset — and momentum — to Europe’s defence sector.
But before we dig into EISENHERZ, it's worth getting the inside story of just some of Braun’s entrepreneurial journey.
Over a decade as a serial entrepreneur
Braun started his first company back in 2011 and has spent most of his career in the US. He recalls:
“We had no idea what we were doing or how to pull it off, but somehow, we made it. We actually exited in 2018. And I’m not exaggerating—we almost died seven or eight times along the way. It was wild."
That phase followed a period of investing in deeptech startups, and then launching an AI company that scaled quickly and exited after just nine months.
Then, he co-founded For Safety Inc. (4SI), a company that aims to reduce the risks AI poses to humanity by proactively addressing the challenges posed by rapid technological advancements, aiming to protect individuals and societies from potential threats.
Operating largely behind the scenes, 4SI raised a small round and incorporated in the US, where Braun says they "struck gold."
“We struck gold — specifically in the area of verification. We now hold the only quantum-proof patent for AI verification. That means we're the only ones who can verify AI in a way that's resilient even against quantum computing.”
Which brings us to Eisenherz.
Eisenherz goes back to 2021, when Russia began massing troops near Ukraine.
“I saw it coming four or five months before the invasion. Everyone thought I was crazy, but I told them — they're going to attack. You could tell from the underlying economic signals."
That foresight led to the formation of a stealth think tank called HEIMDALL, which focused on emerging defence technologies and how to scale them. Braun identified a massive inefficiency in modern warfare:
“Europe’s defencetech approach just didn’t make sense economically: we were shooting down Russian missiles with interceptors that cost $3 to 5 million apiece. That’s insane.
We devised several solutions, but we shelved them because it wasn’t the right time.”
While early solutions were shelved due to poor timing, a breakthrough came in late 2023. Braun and his 4SI team were in meetings at Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix when they uncovered a new approach — one that felt like the perfect fit.
“That’s when we discovered a new approach, a much better fit. Everything clicked. So we founded Eisenherz Defense Technologies.”
Creating the Skunkworks of Europe
EISENHERZ is building something rare: a German-American defence company — founded by German entrepreneurs, together with a US-based team.
Its mission is to create a lasting bridge and bring radical technological innovation into European defence.
Braun asserts:
"We need to go extreme. We need to, to find the frontier that nobody talks about. And that's where Eisenberg comes in and mimics the Skunkworks vision from the sixties and seventies.”
"Skunk Works" refers to a legendary advanced development division within Lockheed Martin, originally part of Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. The term has become shorthand for any small, highly innovative team operating with a high degree of autonomy and minimal bureaucracy.
According to Wiebke, “It’s the kind of progress that hasn’t happened in Europe at this depth in decades.”
But launching a defence company as Europeans in the US hasn’t been easy. Braun explains that Trump’s return brought a new wave of regulatory roadblocks, resulting in the company refocusing its efforts on Europe.
According to Braun, his executive orders made it nearly impossible for non-citizens to access things like SBA loans:
"It’s gotten to the point where it's almost impossible to start and operate a business in the US under those conditions.
And we are Europeans, so it is our duty actually to funnel the IP back to Europe."
Defence-as-a-Service
The company sees itself as one of the few focused on frontier tech. EISENHERZ isn’t just building defence tech — it’s rethinking how it’s delivered, with a focus on Defence-as-a-Service.
Wiebe detailed:
“We realised that militaries don’t have enough people to operate complex tech. “So we build everything idiot-proof — crazy simple, yet powered by high-end innovation.”
Instead of selling billion-dollar systems, Eisenherz delivers modular, stackable tech through a service model — keeping costs low and flexibility high.
“We have all the ingredients in Europe — ASML, advanced manufacturing, world-class R&D. What we’re missing is the courage to touch the frontier.”
Wiebke asserts that Europe needs frontier innovation:
"We have the industry, the talent, the tech—like ASML. But we lack risk appetite. If we don’t touch the frontier, Europe’s future is at risk.”
The company is working on several such frontier technologies— solutions that genuinely disrupt how we think about and approach defence.
Braun details that the company’s operations are built on two pillars: the backbone business, which includes decoys and surrogate systems that generate revenue now, and a powerful R&D arm that drives innovation forward.
“What sets us apart is our mindset. Most companies see a gap and rush to build the next drone, because that's the obvious move.
But we ask a different question: What will defence need a decade from now? What should we be building for that future? And we think we can see some of those answers already—and that’s where we’re going.”
Let’s take sixth-gen fighter jets. It’s going to take a decade or more, involve multiple countries, and be slower than the US or China. We offer the only structure that can actually do it. We're already talking about fighter jets.”
Breaking from bureaucracy
The company’s service model not only addresses capability gaps but also bypasses sluggish government procurement processes.
“We don't want to be dependent on government funding. The private market gives us speed and freedom. We build a financial base through surrogates and decoys.”
5 to10 per cent goes to ops and compliance, with the rest invested in deep R&D.
EISENHERZ is in the process of fundraising and has already secured a major purchase order worth nearly $5 million.
The difference in building defencetech in Europe vs North America
Braun notes two key differences between building defence startups in the US vs Germany: company-building and intelligence:
“In the US, things move faster—there’s more structure and clarity around how to build and scale. But once you step into the intelligence space, it becomes a different game entirely.
Startups need to understand they’re not just selling products—they’re selling power.”
Yet despite the challenges of Trump, the company aims to maintain a US structure of governance reasons and scale — “ US DoD contracting used to be faster — at least before Trump” – details Wiebke, but all the IP and R&D will be based in Europe going forward.
As-a-Service training for F-35 pilots
Braun predicts that the EISENHERTZ’s first military contracts will likely be with air forces — for threat-as-a-service, emitter-as-a-service training for F-35 pilots.
“Our lead will be a Danish F-35 pilot and Chief Weapons Officer at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona.”
F-35s do SEAD — suppression of enemy air defences.
“They need real-world training, not just simulators, " explains Wiebke.
”We bring surrogates and emitters to their base to simulate realistic threats—like how Russia might deploy. It’s hands-on, not theoretical. We bring pilots onboard to build what works. Everything is customer-centric and low-margin.”
Given that the company is refocusing its sights on Europe, I was curious where they see the biggest opportunity. The duo mentioned the Eastern flank, the Nordics, Poland, and of course, Ukraine, as well as Germany and France.
According to Braun, the biggest shift to defencetech in coming years is infrastructure. “You can’t move troops or tanks without roads or bridges. Europe’s are too old.
“So we need to develop defence infrastructure too—with autonomous systems that anyone can use, which is idiot-proof and operable like a smartphone.”
For those thinking of pivoting to the sector, Braun advises that startups focused on dual-use or defence should “think about ethics first."
"Defence isn’t normal business. You're delivering power. It can prevent or provoke war. It’s a huge responsibility.”
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