Visiting Associate (gn) @ DefenceTech Venture, Belgium

This role requires a start date within the next 4 weeks.

About MAHI

MAHI is a European deep tech company building next-generation autonomous navigation technology for defense applications at sea. We combine advanced AI, embedded software, and integrated hardware into a fully certified, production-ready system already deployed with clients.

We're not another promising startup with a prototype, we have a tested product, paying customers, and early traction in one of the world's most complex and high-stakes markets. Our vessels range from 6 to 60 meters. Backed by leading investors, we're entering a critical commercial and fundraising phase, scaling operations across Europe and beyond.

The Role

This isn't a follow-the-playbook job. As a Visiting Associate, you'll work directly with the founding team during a pivotal period of investor and partnership development, helping us translate technical excellence into capital and strategic relationships.

You'll be embedded in the business at a moment that matters. One day you're building a fundraising narrative. The next, you're on a call with a potential LP or drafting a strategic partnership brief. You'll move fast, think clearly under pressure, and bring the kind of rigour that moves investors from interested to committed.

What You'll Do

Fundraising & Investor Relations

• Support preparation of investor materials, pitch decks, data rooms, financial summaries, and Q&A briefs

• Research and map potential investors, strategic partners, and sovereign/defence funds relevant to MAHI's raise

• Coordinate outreach, track pipeline, and maintain CRM discipline across the fundraising process

• Draft tailored investor communications and follow-up materials

• Support due diligence processes, organising documentation, responding to information requests

• Monitor relevant market developments, comparable transactions, and investor activity in the defence tech space

Strategic & Commercial Support

• Prepare compelling proposals and capability documents for defence clients and government stakeholders

• Research market entry strategies, competitive positioning, and partnership opportunities

• Assist with preparation for key commercial milestones, demos, trials, and strategic meetings

• Support narrative development for press, policy, and partnership audiences

You're Right For This If

• You've worked in or around venture capital, investment banking, strategy consulting, or early-stage startups

• You write with precision and adapt your voice, equally comfortable in an investor memo and a defence brief

• You're analytically sharp, you know how to structure an argument and back it with data

• You execute without being told twice, high ownership, low ego

• You thrive in ambiguity and find 0→1 problems energising, not paralyzing

• You're resourceful: if you don't know the answer, you find it

Bonus points:

• Experience supporting fundraising rounds, M&A, or complex commercial negotiations

• Exposure to defence, maritime, hardware, or deep tech sectors

• Multiple languages, European markets are a priority

• You've done something unusual that shows initiative and intellectual range

What to Expect

This is an early-stage startup role. Your responsibilities will evolve as the company grows and the fundraising process develops. You'll need to be self-directed, comfortable operating with incomplete information, and able to context-switch across workstreams without losing rigour. Some periods, around investor meetings, due diligence requests, or commercial demos, will be intense.

What You'll Get

• Direct access to founders, your work shapes real decisions, including how we raise and who we partner with

• Front-row seat to building a deep-tech defence company through a critical funding phase

• Exposure to sophisticated investors, government stakeholders, and defence procurement processes

• Rapid skill development, you'll learn more in six months than most people do in two years

• The satisfaction of seeing your work translate directly into capital and partnerships