Backbone

Uncompromising cybersecurity architecture for defence and critical infrastructure built into robust and secure portable data devices.

Customer base and partners: Army of Top-5 NATO member state, National European Army, European Defence Fund

What it does: hardware-based security designed for environments where failure is not an option.

Why it matters: sovereign cyber resilience requires deployable solutions, not only policy.

Sparring’s role: growth financing and operational scaling support.

Milestone: Outpaced a $5bn US defence player in technical due diligence of a Top-5 NATO armed force.

Founded: 2014
Backed by Sparring since: 2025
Founders: Philipp Lechner, Gerald Zach
Sparring Lead: Michael Steiner