Last June, SXSW announced they would no longer allow military and defense companies to sponsor. This decision sparked a few strong reactions to say the least. From Austin's defense tech community, all the way down to me!
Some of those reactions led directly to action, including the creation of a new summit, Austin4America.
I am joined by Luke Fischer, one of the summit’s creators. We talk about why this matters, especially as Austin becomes not just a top defense tech hub, but an innovation superstar.
Luke is the Co-Founder and CEO of SkyFi, an industry-leading Earth intelligence company headquartered in Austin, Texas. He began his career as a US Army Special Operations aviator leading teams in the most demanding environments. After the Army, Luke was Head of Flight Operations at Uber and later led Government Operations at Joby Aviation. After Joby, he was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Shield Capital where he focused on investing in Space, Autonomy, AI, and Cyber until he co-founded SkyFi.
Episode Highlights
SXSW's Military Sponsor Ban and Austin's Response
Modern Defense Tech Beyond Weapons
SkyFi: Building an Earth Intelligence Platform
Why Austin Leads Defense Innovation
Austin4America: From X/Twitter to Reality
Innovation & Defense Tech Agenda
Convergence of Veterans, Health, and National Security
What’s Next Austin?
“A gravitation of some of the best companies in the world coming to Austin, where we see across all the industries, bio, defense, healthcare, manufacturing.”
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