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Brieuc Delbart | Founder of Nexora Defence

Nexora Defence is a defense start-up, mainly oriented toward DeepTech. We develop intelligent power distribution systems that are mainly software-defined, and whose goal is to be highly modular and to make the integration of different systems simple, mainly in military vehicles.

Through the various interactions I had with vehicle manufacturers, I realized that they had more and more systems they needed to integrate into their platforms, and that it was systematically complicated to do so from an electrical architecture standpoint. To simplify that, I created Nexora Defence.

Why did you choose to join us, and what does this environment bring to the development of your company?

A6K allowed me to turn an idea into a company. To be 100% honest, I think I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit, but there’s a lot you need to have and master as an entrepreneur, and it doesn’t come naturally just because you have a good idea.

How did you work with our team on preparing your Startup Boost application?

The help and support provided by the acceleration team was to put a structure on the whole creation of this company.

When you’re an entrepreneur, you show up with an idea, a more or less clear sense of a market, and you’re drawn to a certain plan. That plan has to be translated so that it speaks to different investors and stakeholders, whether it’s Wallonie Entreprendre in this case for Startup Boost, or any other type of investor. They need to be able to see the opportunity and understand it. A6K’s support makes it possible to put the founder’s plan into words and onto paper. At least, that’s what it did for me.

Now that Nexora Defence is a Startup Boost laureate, what concrete progress do you want to achieve thanks to this support?

Concretely, it allowed us to remove certain technological roadblocks that were, so to speak, a fear. In fact, it’s a lever for raising funds. Without this technical unlocking in our case, I wouldn’t have felt confident raising funds afterward to build a product when I wasn’t sure I could master all the technology. So it really helped us lift this technological barrier and confirm that we could get where we want to go with the plan we had in mind.

Do you have a concrete example of a meeting or an exchange at A6K that helped you move your project forward?

All exchanges are worth taking, because everyone here is either an entrepreneur who comes to follow a particular topic, at a Masterclass for example, or someone who’s here for a meeting or something else.

With the entrepreneurs at a Masterclass, it’s super easy, we know how to talk about the topic of the session. It gives you a view of the stage the others are at and the problems they’re facing. It lets us take a step back and realize “well, I’m not the only one with challenges, they’re just going through other ones.” Sometimes it helps you look for solutions elsewhere, or mature a different idea.

The exchanges over a coffee or a sandwich are a bit more informal, and that’s really the whole richness of the network. Sometimes you simply talk with someone who’s here by chance for a meeting. We chat, we get to know each other, and in the end this person can bring something we didn’t necessarily imagine at the start. A discussion becomes an opportunity, which is nice, on a purely business level but also through exchanges of every kind.

If I had to name one exchange that stayed with me and helped me move my project forward, especially on the fundraising, it would be one with the A6K team, which gave me the contact of someone outside the ecosystem. I had a phone call with him through them. He’s currently at Series B and super accessible, I sent him two or three messages and we had a discussion. It really opened my mind to how relaxed the world of investors can be.

It’s not necessarily a closed world. Everything is open to discussion, and people are accessible. He told me clearly that this was a mindset he had set for himself when creating his company. He’s already at Series B, very far along, and he set his own objectives with his own constraints. I won’t say I think of that discussion in every decision I make, but it resonates, because I told myself “well, yes, I do the same, I set my own constraint, I move forward and I know where we’re going.” It’s an exchange I think about in that regard.

Beyond Startup Boost, what are the next steps for Nexora Defence, and what challenges do you want to take on to realize your ambitions?

Concretely, here we’re dealing more with technical challenges. We’re following the roadmap we laid out during Startup Boost and presented to the investors who believe in the project. The challenges Nexora Defence is facing now are more about developing the proof of concept of what we laid out during the Startup Boost presentation. The ambition is to get as quickly as possible to a qualified product that can be integrated into different platforms in the defense sector.

With the experience you now have, what would you say to an entrepreneur who is still hesitating to apply to Startup Boost?

I would tell them, you have to try, because honestly the people in Startup Boost are not tied to any investment fund.

The jury is completely external. So first of all, it’s good to have this first critical look at your own project, and the jury members are also entrepreneurs. I’d say that beyond the financial aspect, it gives you a real critical perspective on what we do, on what we offer.

It’s a bit of a selection, so it also says where the company stands compared to others. Then I’d say, you have to try the experience, it’s a springboard that leads to other investors, to a ramp-up of the company. Honestly, my experience with Startup Boost was very positive.

It’s what really triggered the interest of several investors. I don’t think Nexora would have come to life in the end. Well, it would have come to life, but it might have taken much longer. It’s really a flash on the radar, due to the fact that it’s Wallonie Entreprendre launching it, that is not insignificant.

Are you building a tech start-up in Wallonia?

Startup Boost, Wallonie Entreprendre’s early-stage investment program, offers a convertible loan of up to €100,000 per selected start-up. If, like Brieuc, you want to turn your ideas into reality, find out more about the program and get ready to apply.