Know who you are partnering with before you commit.
Integrity due diligence for EU defense startups and the funds behind them, focused on the Russian links that standard screening can miss.
Polymath Intelligence
Deep, evidence-based investigation of the few relationships that matter most.
Your screening tools
Automated checks stay exactly where they are.
- AML
- KYC
- PEP
- Adverse media
- Sanctions
We add to your screening. We do not replace it.
Built for defense startups
In defense, the license to operate rests on trust.
Your standing with governments, your licenses to operate and to export, and your revenue all depend on confidence in who stands behind your company. Like a doctor's license, these are the foundation of the whole practice, and they are hard to rebuild once questioned.
Standard screening is designed to show you are compliant. With this much exposure, many teams want to know more.
- Government contractsMulti-million euro agreements and your standing with procurers.
- LicensesThe right to operate, and the right to export.
- Intellectual propertyTechnology and know-how that partners and hires can reach.
- Regulatory standingFines, and the scrutiny that follows them.
- CapitalLosses from fraud, hidden owners and failed deals.
- Market positionMonths of clean-up are months a competitor can use.
What we do
Before a major customer, supplier, distributor, investor, acquisition, joint venture or senior hire, standard checks do not always tell the whole story. Hidden owners, sanctions links, fraud, litigation or connections to the wrong people can sit below the surface.
Our reports draw on credible sources: open-source intelligence and, where appropriate, legally obtained human-source information. Every finding is traceable to its evidence, so you can verify it yourself.
A case from our work
We go beyond standard KYC, KYB and sanctions screening, and we look at what established providers may not.
A director in contact with a Russian intelligence officer
A company passed checks from reputable providers. Official company records and EU court documents showed that one of its directors had an ongoing relationship with a Russian intelligence officer. The risk decision changed straight away.
Who we serve
Our primary clients are defense startups, particularly fast-growing ones working across complex supply chains or distribution networks in higher-risk markets such as Eastern Europe. We also work with the private equity and venture capital funds that back them, and with companies in finance and manufacturing.
- Defense startups
- Private equity
- Venture capital
- Finance
- Manufacturing
Our scope
Alongside your screening
Established AML, KYC, PEP, adverse media and sanctions tools already cover their ground. We add deeper investigation, at a reasonable cost, for your critical relationships.
Focused on Russian links
We do not screen every kind of risk. We specialize in Russian links and in anything that could support Russia's war effort, from damaging operations, finances or reputation to taking critical secrets.
Why Russia
A company can see no direct link to Russia and still be within reach of it.
Russia is waging a hybrid campaign against the EU, aimed at weakening its capacity to defend itself and to support Ukraine. It relies on evasion techniques that most screening providers are not built to handle: they tend to be either too superficial, or too expensive for deep investigative work. That is the gap we work in.