Ecosystems are walled off from each other. Kyiv learns in weeks what Washington learns in years. El Segundo builds what Paris is still debating.

The Breach covers hard tech across the US, Europe and Ukraine: defense, space, manufacturing and robotics.

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Field reports, interviews and videos from the ecosystems, in public.

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El Segundo and Ukraine, 2026

Two reports out now, written from the ground. Manufacturing and space next.

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Writing All on Substack ↗

OpinionMinds at war: my journey inside Ukraine↗What I saw and heard among the people building Ukraine's defense tech, and what Europe should take from it. Interviews & deep diveOn the Edge↗Conversations with the founders and people shaping European defense tech.

Coming soon

InterviewRebuilding the West, One Part at a TimeSoonManufacturing as defense's new bottleneck, with Jim Belosic of SendCutSend.
Deep diveRare earths: the West's hidden dependencySoonWhy rare earth processing became a defense question, and who is building the alternative.
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Reports

Ground truth on hard tech ecosystems.

Written from inside the ecosystems, for funds, startups and corporates that need to understand a market before they enter it.

The BreachReport 01

State of the Defense Industry in El Segundo

Los Angeles2026
Available2026 editionUS · Defense · Manufacturing

State of the Defense Industry in El Segundo, 2026

El Segundo went from aerospace suburb to the densest cluster of new defense companies in the US. This report maps who is there, how they win contracts, and what it means for Europeans.

  • 01The map: startups, primes, suppliers and accelerators, block by block
  • 02From garage to contract: how young companies reach the DoD
  • 03The manufacturing and talent base behind the cluster
  • 04What European founders and funds should take from it
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The BreachReport 02

2026 Ukraine Defense Tech Ecosystem

Kyiv2026
Available2026 editionUkraine · Defense · Drones

2026 Ukraine Defense Tech Ecosystem

How Ukraine builds, tests and fields new systems in weeks, who the companies are, and how Western funds and startups can work with them.

  • 01The map: drone makers, software teams, clusters and the state programs that fund them
  • 02From workshop to front line: the feedback loop that sets Ukraine's speed
  • 03Procurement, export rules and how foreign partners get in
  • 04What Europe and the US should learn, and where to partner
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Coming next

The BreachReport 03

US Manufacturing

United StatesComing soon

US Manufacturing

The factories, suppliers and new players rebuilding the American industrial base for defense, read from a European point of view.

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The BreachReport 04

Space Tech Report 2026

US / EuropeComing soon

Space Tech Report 2026: US / Europe

Launch, satellites and the new space companies on both sides of the Atlantic: who is building what, where the money goes, and how the two ecosystems can work together.

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For funds, startups and corporates working across the US, Europe and Ukraine.

  • Custom reportsA market or technology mapped from the ground, written for your team.
  • IntroductionsA few qualified introductions, with context written for both sides.
  • Landing weeksA week of meetings, visits and events for a team coming to California.
  • RoomsSmall closed dinners between European founders and US operators.
  • Press and talksInterviews, panels and conferences.
I am

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About

I'm Emma. I go where hard tech is built.

Emma

I build bridges between the hard tech ecosystems of Europe, Ukraine and the US.

This year, I helped over 20 startups, most of them in defense tech, with my network and my knowledge of the industry: access to European MoDs, setting up in Ukraine for discovery and testing, recruiting top talent and building partnerships between companies. I worked at Hexa, a startup studio based in Paris and San Francisco, on its defense acceleration program.

My network spans Europe, where I grew up, Ukraine, which I visit often, and the US, where I am based.

In Paris, I sit on the board of Cercle La Pérouse, a European think tank on sovereignty working in defense and critical industries, and I have organized several national security events with hundreds of attendees each.

On my Substack, I interview the founders building these industries, from Harmattan AI to SendCutSend, and write about what each ecosystem can learn from the others.

Everywhere I saw the same walls between ecosystems. The Breach is how I carry what one side knows to the other.

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