The Ministry of Defence, in cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, is establishing a mentoring programme to help companies prepare for applying to NATO DIANA accelerator programmes.
The mentoring programme will launch in February, and over a 4-5 month period, interested companies will have the opportunity to become familiar with the challenges of the defence sector through training, mentoring sessions, and interactions with potential end-users. As part of the programme, companies will have the chance to adapt their technological solutions to meet the needs of the defence market through research, development, and innovation.
“NATO DIANA is a great opportunity to promote innovation in Estonia’s defence industry and contribute to our national defence capability. As competition for participation in NATO DIANA accelerator programmes grows every year, we are preparing a DIANA mentoring programme to boost the competitiveness of Estonian companies applying to the programme. The Ministry of Defence considers it important to support Estonian companies in fostering innovation,” said Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur.
Two Estonian companies successfully passed the highly competitive selection process for the second year of the NATO DIANA business accelerator and will begin developing their products in December. A total of seven startups will participate in the NATO DIANA Tallinn branch accelerator, with companies also coming from Sweden, Norway, and Poland. Across the alliance, nearly 2,600 applications were submitted for 74 spots in 13 accelerators.
The successful Estonian companies are Wayren and Telearmy. Wayren is developing a data exchange platform that enables solutions even in the most demanding environments, including regions in conflict. Telearmy is working on a product that, when integrated into existing vehicles, allows them to be remotely controlled over long distances and at high speeds via networks like Starlink or Radiolink.
“We are very pleased to see the growing interest of Estonian companies in NATO DIANA, and we are ready to support their successful participation. Currently, the challenge lies in the fact that while the number of applications from Estonian companies in the first round is considerable, the percentage advancing to the second round is relatively small. Therefore, we must focus on improving the quality of applications, which is the main goal of the mentoring programme,” said Miiko Peris, Head of the Innovation Department at the Ministry of Defence.
Detailed information on the mentoring programme, including registration details and participation requirements, will be published at the end of January.
The NATO DIANA business accelerator in Estonia is led by the Tehnopol Startup Incubator in cooperation with Sparkup Tartu Science Park and the business accelerator Startup Wise Guys. The implementation of the accelerator in Estonia is funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, with support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defence, and the City of Tallinn. Contributors to the alliance-wide network of testing centres in Estonia include TalTech, the University of Tartu, CR14, the Estonian National Defence Academy, the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences, the Estonian Aviation Academy, and Metrosert.
Additional information: [email protected]
Photo: Untitled | Kaitseministeerium | Flickr