It’s not a storm — it’s the climate

It’s not a storm — it’s the climate

Sparkmind Invested EPS 3: NATO Investment, Defence Trials and TechArena

18 February 2026

Summary:

Colin, Martti and Chris discuss the three conversations that matter this week. 

This week we focused on two events and one report.

  1. Griffin Tech Days in Lapland
  2. TechArena and the call for Capital in Stockholm
  3. Nato Investment Fund (NIF) and Dealroom Report 

Remember, this show is for entertainment and is not investment advice. We optimise for insight not views.

TAKEAWAYS:

Griffin Tech Days:

  • Run by the Finnish military in partnership with XD solutions, with over 15 different countries and 1000 participants attending 
  • Trialling a range of companies’ products over a full week and a second week for selected companies
  • Temperatures were -30C and below
  • Purchase orders were not the objective or expectation
  • Companies should be funded to demonstrate capabilities that work for the warfighter

TechArena:

  • Big AI vibe! 
  • Companies that are raising money rather than testing capabilities
  • Call for more European investors to double down.
  • Positivity around the surface area of AI and how much can be done.

NIF & Dealroom:

  • Mega rounds skew the data, so be aware of percentages
  • The big capital is going in the later stages 
  • Early and mid stage is basically flat year on year.
  • The report could have been 50% shorter