ctg. morning brief, 25 Oct 2026
On 25 Oct 2026, Saab booked SEK 65.8bn of new orders in Q3, up from SEK 20.9bn a year earlier, per its report via CNBC (23 Oct). The big three: 16 Gripen E for Ukraine (SEK 24.6bn), a GlobalEye for an undisclosed Middle East customer (SEK 10.1bn) and SEK 8.7bn to equip Germany's new frigates.
Why it matters: The backlog hit SEK 364.2bn at the end of September, up from SEK 274.5bn in January, the sixth straight quarter of growth. Sales of SEK 20.6bn and EBIT of SEK 1.95bn both came in slightly above forecasts. The order book is not the problem anymore. The line is. In July Saab said it wants to take Gripen from 15 jets a year to 20-30, and the Ukraine jets deliver in 2029-2030. The money is in. Now show the rate.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/23/saab-q3-earnings-figther-jet-maker-beats-expectations-as-orders-triple.html
Czech operator České Radiokomunikace (CRA) and France's Bull signed an MoU (21 Oct) to build out CRA's Czech AI gigafactory bid for Central and Eastern Europe. Bull calls it the first industrial deal under the new French-Czech AI cooperation agreement, and the bid is pitched as open to the nine CEE countries behind the Prague declaration.
Why it matters: Context: Brussels pushed the EU gigafactory deadline to 3 December because no bids had come in, per Europa Press via Diario Empresas, and the Spanish consortium had not filed either. Sweden committed €50m over five years to buy compute through a node linked to a gigafactory in Finland. Edition candidate, a sequel to 007: who actually files by 3 December, and can a CEE bid run from Prague match the German and Spanish ones on power, money and chips? We write from Prague. We should know first.
Source: https://www.bull.com/en/press-releases/bull-and-cra-join-forces-to-build-the-czech-ai-gigafactory-for-central-and-eastern-europe
Era4 says the first GPUs at The Mill, its AI campus on a former Liberty Steel site in Newport, Wales, come online in 2027, per DCD (22 Oct). Full build: up to 1GW and as many as 400,000 Nvidia Vera Rubin GPUs on a 230-acre site.
Why it matters: Phase one goes in as modular units inside an existing, unused steel building, and the brick chimney stays. DCD notes it is not clear how much power will be there on day one. The site sits in the South Wales AI Growth Zone, which promises priority grid access. A dead mill getting a second shift is the best kind of reuse. But 1GW is a ceiling, not a contract. Watch the megawatts, not the GPU count.
Source: https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/era4-reveals-details-of-hyperscale-data-center-planned-for-former-steelworks-in-newport-wales/
Madrid VC Seaya hit a €600m first close for Seaya Nova, its new growth fund, in about six months (22 Oct). The EIF is a key backer through the European Tech Champions Initiative. Tickets are €20-50m, leading or co-leading Series B to D.
Why it matters: Europe's gap is not seed money. It is the €30m Series C cheque that sends founders to San Francisco. One more fund writing that cheque from this side helps. Put it next to the Scaleup Europe Fund leading Pigment's round this week and the growth stack looks less empty than it did a year ago.
Source: https://www.eu-startups.com/2026/10/spanish-vc-seaya-closes-new-fund-at-e600-million-in-just-six-months/