August Tech Round-Up: Silicon Valley Meets the Military Industrial Complex
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Dear reader,
So many of today’s everyday technologies were forged not in the comfort of Silicon Valley boardrooms, but in the high-stakes crucible of military innovation. From the internet and GPS to the jet engine, history shows that defence-driven breakthroughs often spill over into the civilian world—reshaping how we live, move, and connect.
In this month’s Tech Round-Up, we look at how defence tech is once again reshaping the frontier. From Anduril’s fixed-price, AI-powered swarms to Europe’s rearmament boom and America’s trillion-dollar pivot to autonomous systems, military innovation is driving a new wave of commercial potential.
Enjoy, from the team at North Ridge Partners.
Original Thinking From North Ridge Partners
Article One: From Silicon Valley to the battlefield—defence tech’s biggest shake-up in decades is underway. Emerging disruptors like Anduril are transforming the economics of war with AI, autonomy, and fixed-price innovation. As Europe arms up, the US is shifting its procurement priorities, and investors are pouring billions into smarter, faster, cheaper capabilities. Click here to see how this tectonic shift is reshaping budgets, strategy, and the battlefield.
Article Two: Hypersonics—long the stuff of aerospace ambition—is racing out of military research labs and into commercial view. With new vehicles emerging that can travel at many times the speed of sound, we’re on the brink of a transportation revolution that could slash global flight times, supercharge low-orbit communications, rewrite the rules of logistics, and reshape the military. Witness the recent Series A raise for Brisbane-based hotshot Hypersonix, led by North Ridge Partners. Buckle up, and dive in here.
Short of Time? Listen to the Podcast
Max Velocity and Tina Trajectory, our two AI podcasters, go to town on Aerospace & Defence Tech. An easy, short listen.
Click here or on the banner below to listen. Enjoy!
Inside the AI Gold Rush: Boom, Bloom or Gloom?
Is this the biggest tech bubble, ever?
Keep up, everyone! Grok 4’s moment in the sun, GPT-5 launch chaos, and OpenAI raises $8.3bn.
Big Tech
Q2 results: Alphabet’s AI-driven quarter: search steady, as cloud soars; Meta swings the bat on AI: costs now, superintelligence later; AWS growth slows as guidance douses enthusiasm; Clouds may be silver but Microsoft’s AI spending gets the gold; for Apple, AI is still on the bench.
Palantir’s Q2 revenue surge: CEO boasts sceptics have been 'bent into submission'.
No Figma of anyone’s imagination: IPO pops, big time.
Is this another Cortana moment? ChatGPT is eating Copilot’s lunch.
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Asia Pacific Tech News
The Profit Grab rolls on.
Airtree smashes the ball out of the park with new funds.
Here comes Alibaba – US$53bn in DCs and 100,000 AI workers to be trained per year.
Hot on the heels of buying Australia’s Spaceship and its IPO, the digital thundering herd hits Asia.
Stuff We Found Interesting
Is everything up for grabs in OTA-land? Read more threats from generative AI and Is Google becoming the next big OTA? then What if Airbnb builds the killer AI travel app?
The future of media is here - we’re talking about Substack.
Tech Investment Banking Across Asia Pacific
North Ridge Partners advises tech companies across the Asia Pacific on strategy, capital raising and M&A. We’re experienced dealmakers who have built and sold many tech companies. In partnership with GP Bullhound, we have 200 bankers in 17 global offices.
Contact us here.
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