André Loesekrug-Pietri - building Europe's ARPA
JEDI co-founder André Loesekrug-Pietri on running DARPA-style moonshots in Europe, from rare-earth refining to laser comms and antimicrobial resistance.
About this episode
What if Europe had its own DARPA? André Loesekrug-Pietri has spent the last few years building exactly that. He is the co-founder and managing director of JEDI, the Joint European Disruptive Initiative, a privately funded agency that runs DARPA-style moonshots on rare-earth refining, laser communication, antibiotics and more. Ahead of a fast-moving conversation on how JEDI picks its bets, who pays for them and why he thinks Europe keeps funding projects instead of winners, here is what we took away from the episode.