This founder left the Silicon Valley to challenge the superiority of the American defense from Athens, and the investors are noting

In the summer of 2021, Dimitrias Kottas took an indelible step for most of the Silicon Valley engineers: after leaving his desired position in the Apple Special Projects set, he mobilized his life in California and returned to Athens to start a defense company.

After three and a half years, startup, Dolian Industries AllianceSolar -powered surveillance towers have been established that monitor some of the borders of Greece around the clock and discover forest fires in remote islands, along with a pipeline from other products, including hidden marine aircraft designed to preserve enemies in the Gulf.

But Kottas’s most ambitious bet is not on any specific technology – it is really that a small Greek startup can penetrate the famous defense market in Europe.

This may seem less than today’s gambling, especially since the defense technology was not hotter, but the Kotas Road to Dolian was a long work, as this editor told a modern enlargement call.

After obtaining recognition of his academic work at the University of Minnesota GPS regular navigation – Research that he says was martyred more than 1400 times – joined Apple in 2016, spent six years working on independent systems that include cameras, Lidar and radar. While he said he could not discuss the details due to the secret agreements, the technologies that he participated in developing in the Apple section clearly helped to inform Dylan.

“At the heart of self -ruling is perception,” Cotass explained, describing how the machines should be understood not only where things are, but what they do and what they intend to do. “This lies at the heart of autonomy, and given the autonomy will be at the heart of all future weapons systems, this is the basic technology that will lead to change in the defense industry over the next decade.”

It was not just a technical vision that led his career change. A series of geopolitical events-Watch the conflict Armenia Azerbaijan; The country’s vision is looking to review their surrounding borders; And realizing the extent to which European armies fell – began to overcome it. He said, “I have lost a literal sleep.”

Instead of trying to build a next generation fighter plane, Kottas started with something that he could sell immediately: monitoring towers. It seems that this step was torn from the eight -year -old Playbook book, which started with the surveillance towers that were activated with the programs that he sold to customs and the protection of American borders.

But the latest Dolian products reveal greater ambitions. The “interceptigon” series is the hide of drones, air and marine ships designed for reproduction until threats appear.

The most surprising example is a suicide bowl, a meter away, which comes in a cylinder and presents it months ago on the sea bottom on depths where satellites and drones cannot discover. When it is activated remotely, it appears to be “from nothingness to the enemy”, Kotas told Techcrunch, adding that Delian has patented this approach, which uses commercial materials to manufacture weapons on a large scale and very consistent. “

It is a model that says Kottas is not present elsewhere in the Western defense industry. It also attracted investors who have just provided Dynian at $ 14 million in financing. In fact, the startup company announced on Tuesday that its former supporters, Air Street Capital and Marchhon Venture Capital, have led the latest capital pump, which brings Delian’s total financing so far $ 22 million.

Here where the Kottas story becomes more complex. Despite Dylan’s technological achievements and operational success in Greece, the broader European market is still a huge challenge. It is said that American officials were the pressure European countries to continue buying weapons from US clothes. Moreover, European countries have long preferred their local defense companies, a tendency that some investors believe will make it difficult for startups such as Dylan to expand across the border.

“This anxiety is now stronger in France,” Kotas admitted, although he said the scene was changing. As evidence that retail is overcome, he referred to European Union initiatives such as security and Europe’s redemptionDesigned to encourage defense cooperation across the border.

And he insisted that the evidence is already arising, as it achieved companies such as Portugal Texavir Unicorn modeAnd quantum systems in Germany compete globally. “There are companies that raised (…) ten raised by the United States’ competitors, and they competed in the exact same market, and the European counterpart won.”

Of course, the question is what Cotass thinks in Andoril, and the founder is respectful, albeit not scary. He said: “It is definitely a generation company that will inspire many founders and military officers all over the planet.”

But he warned of the assumption of the first winners. “Where we are now standing, it is like 2015 for self -driving cars (…) Imagine an attempt to predict the winner at that time.”

However, the question remains whether the Greek startup – regardless of its innovation – can convince French, German, or British defense institutions to bet on national security for foreign technology. Kottas recently made an offer to obtain a German tender, a test issue for its thesis that decentralized Europe can be overcome through superior technology and competitive pricing.

Meanwhile, what may distinguish Kottas from many entrepreneurs in the field of defense technology is how task is. In reference to Aerospace and Defens Giant Lockheed Martin, Kottas reflects that “it differs from building weapons in New Mexico, which will be used on the other side of the planet,” as it reflects. “This is one mentality, (but) is different from building something you know may be used to save your brother, sister or neighbor.”

These feelings may prove the greatest origin of Dylan, as entrepreneurs all over Europe who view the conflict are not as abstract, but as a living fact. It drives the company’s concentration on low -cost and viable systems that can be widely disposed of, and shows its focus on the technology that can be pre -developed and activated when needed. In the end, other European countries may convince geography of more concern than nationality when it comes to defense.

Either way, Kottas’s unconventional trip from Athens to Minneapolis indicates to Apple and returning to Athens that it is comfortable with long possibilities.

There is a “benefit from building a company” in a smaller market in a continent known for its title. “It forces you to be more flexible and more efficient, and to concentrate without mercy on building a wonderful technology with a really low point, which matters to this work.”

“I think the fragmentation will be overcome in the coming years, and you can turn it into your interest if you play it properly.”