Markos Fragkiadakis

Founder (a16z SR007) | Harvard Business School | Goldman Sachs

[Markos Fragkiadakis @fragkmark]

Introducing Leonidas.

Europe's industrial needs and ambitions have evolved. Its financial infrastructure hasn't.

We're building the first dedicated financial institution for Europe's frontier industries. Follow us at @leonidasfin.

[Markos Fragkiadakis @fragkmark]

What a day at a16z's @speedrun Demo Day in San Francisco!

Proud to have taken the stage as the first and only solo founder from Europe, building around a conviction that European strategic autonomy cannot be achieved without financial sovereignty.

Can clearly feel the appetite from investors around the world to back the next generation of companies looking to transform Europe, as the continent enters one of the largest industrial transformations in history.

A huge thank you to @far33d, @emilybenn12, @tmhammer, @justmazer, @thetalentcarver, @Chen, @nazzari, @andrewchen, @_CallMeMacy, @Tocelot, @JoshLu, @tkexpress11, @SamiraBehrouzan, @kenanhsaleh, Jacqueline Young, @tabishgilani for a truly transformative experience.

More to come soon.

[Markos Fragkiadakis @fragkmark]

My thesis: defence tech is just the tip of the iceberg of a much broader wave of innovation.

The combination of persistent geopolitical instability, need for faster innovation cycles, record private capital and the renewed imperative to build sovereign capabilities will catalyze a generation of companies whose impact extends far beyond traditional defence.

Space is perhaps the clearest example today and it certainly won’t be the last. With VC investment and company formation rates within defence tech at all-time highs, the bigger opportunity in my opinion is in what logically comes next:

The technologies being built for sovereignty, resilience and security today will increasingly become the infrastructure of the broader economy tomorrow.

We are only at the beginning.

[Markos Fragkiadakis @fragkmark]

Excited to share that I'm starting a company, backed by a16z @speedrun !

Europe is entering a defining decade. One that presents an extraordinary opportunity to emerge stronger than ever, but an equal real risk of falling behind or worse.

After decades of underinvesting in our defence sector, digital sovereignty, and supply-chain resilience, we have a unique opportunity to build the next generation of home-grown innovation.

The challenge ahead isn't one of talent or ambition. We have world-class founders, engineers and researchers committed to developing technologies that can shape and protect our future.

It's whether our financial institutions will move as decisively and with the same speed, conviction, and risk appetite for both military and commercial innovation as the founders they're meant to serve.

That's the problem I've become deeply committed to solving.

After Harvard Business School, the obvious thing for someone in my shoes is to stay in the U.S. Instead, I'm returning to London with more conviction than ever that Europe is the place to build right now.

Over the coming weeks I'll be assembling our founding team and looking for outlier humans, driven by mission, relentless in ambition, and willing to take on Europe's hardest problems.

If you are (or know) a founder/operator building in the space or an engineer with experience in fintech, banking, or cybersecurity I would love to hear from you.

A huge thank you to @far33d, @emilybenn12, @tmhammer, @justmazer, @thetalentcarver, @Chen, @nazzari, @andrewchen, @_CallMeMacy, @Tocelot, @JoshLu, @tkexpress11, @SamiraBehrouzan, @kenanhsaleh, Jacqueline Young, @tabishgilani, and the entire Speedrun team for making a non-obvious bet on me from day one.

Time to build.