In this episode we spoke with Andrew Chang from Rsquared about investing in national resilience and what it means in practice.

Andrew shares his route from Army counterintelligence into startups, cybersecurity, and building an incubator that helped founders work with government, before joining R Squared. He explains why the firm avoids being labelled a pure defence fund, and how their thesis spans infrastructure, manufacturing, biotech, cyber, and supply chain resilience across the US and Western Europe.

The conversation covers how “infrastructure” now includes IoT security, why critical minerals are moving up the venture agenda, and where counter drone and underwater autonomy sit in both defence and commercial markets. Andrew also breaks down the biggest hurdle for defence focused founders, learning procurement and contracting systems, and why Europe faces extra complexity across fragmented rules.

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Thank you for listening to Techne Connect! This podcast takes you inside the companies and conversations shaping the future of engineering.

From space and defence to robotics, AI, clean energy, advanced manufacturing and next-generation mobility, each episode features the founders, engineers and technology leaders building tomorrow's world.

Through candid discussions on innovation, leadership, product development and career journeys, the podcast uncovers the ideas, challenges and breakthroughs driving the world's fastest-moving industries. Whether you're an engineer, founder, investor or simply fascinated by emerging technology.

Techne Connect offers a front-row seat to the people creating what's next.

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