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The Drop 2025 - Ripple summaries
Is Dual Use tech Climate-tech 2.0?
Here’s a quick look at what came up in the Ripple. Folks dove into dual-use tech, stuff that fits both energy and defense spaces, and tried to untangle the tough choices investors face.
They covered rules, ethics, business, and real-world stories.
Takeaways:
• Deciding where to draw the line with defense-linked tech is messy.
• Teams need to really think about why founders built their product and if defense fits their main goal.
• It's important to understand the laws and rules around selling in this space.
• Some investors liked setting a revenue limit for defense, not just yes or no.
• People agreed that working with defense isn’t only about risk—energy and impact tech can cross over, but it’s not always simple.
• There’s no one answer for everyone; folks should name and stick to their own line.
• Last, having open talks with backers and setting an exit plan is a smart move.
Bottom line: The Ripple showed that investing in dual-use tech means balancing values, money, and the law—and there’s no perfect map for the journey.
HOSTS
Austin Wood
SET Ventures
Chloe Fu
Sandwater