From Defence Business Lab to NATO DIANA: one stage, different steps in the defence innovation journey 

On 24 September, 13 defence and dual-use companies presented their solutions at the Defence Business Lab Demo Day: ten startups completing the three-month pre-accelerator and 3 alumni of the NATO DIANA Estonian Accelerator.

Organised by Tehnopol, Sparkup Tartu Science Park and EstBAN, the event brought together around 100 participants from armed forces, defence acquisition and capability-development organisations, police and border security, ministries, diplomatic missions, investors, research institutions, test environments and the wider international defence innovation community. Crisis preparedness and resilience were also represented.

For an early-stage defence company, the technology itself is only one part of the equation. The harder questions often come next: who will actually use it, who can test it properly, who has the authority to buy it, and whether the company has enough commercial and financial muscle to get that far.

Ten teams complete Defence Business Lab

The 2026 Defence Business Lab cohort included Anti-Troll, Arx, Cata Strato, Kappazeta, MindChip, Passer Systems, Skypiercer, Sonic Dynamics, Stickleback Robotics and Towerhouse.

During the three-month programme, the teams worked on their value propositions, business models, market entry, testing needs and readiness to engage with potential customers, partners and investors. The programme combined four development modules with individual mentoring and a €5,000 development grant for each team.

Defence Business Lab is aimed at companies still establishing the foundations of their defence or dual-use business. In this sector, the end user, buyer and procurement authority may all be different, while testing often requires access to specialised environments and cooperation with public-sector or defence organisations.

The Demo Day gave the teams an opportunity to present their progress and continue discussions with organisations that may play a role in their next stage of development.

“While daily work with accelerator teams happens behind the curtains, demo days are the highlights both for us and the companies. While companies get the opportunity to demonstrate their technologies, progress and gather actual feedback from potential end-users and investors; for Tehnopol the demo day serves as a platform to showcase our impact in the defence innovation ecosystem through the companies we’re working with,” confirms Vootele Päi, Head of Defence and Dual-Use at Tehnopol.

Investment, testing and end-user perspectives

The event also brought together a significant group of investors and representatives involved in defence capability development, procurement, testing and operational use. Close to 20 people had come specifically to look for investment opportunities, while others represented organisations dealing with everything from military innovation and counter-UAS to border security, crisis preparedness and testing.

“EstBAN investors are where investment is needed most, and defence tech has become one of the fastest-emerging sectors for angels as geopolitical tensions have sharpened over the past four years. Backing founders in defence and dual-use technology is a matter of national security. EstBAN partners with Defence Business Lab and the NATO DIANA Estonian Accelerator to help these founders access capital quickly, so that when they are ready to build, funding does not become the bottleneck,” said Darja Ogorodnik, Deal Flow Manager at EstBAN.

That matters because defence startups are judged from several angles at once. Investors want to know whether the business can scale, end users whether the technology solves a real problem, and testing partners whether it actually works outside a pitch deck.

Three NATO DIANA alumni represented the next stage

The programme also featured DATAMBIT from the United Kingdom, SkyFi from the United States and IS-Wireless from Poland, all of which have been accelerated in Estonia through NATO DIANA.

“It is encouraging to see that, in the accelerator’s second year, we have once again brought together ambitious defence technology companies whose solutions are already moving beyond the idea stage and being tested in cooperation with the Estonian Defence Forces and partners in Ukraine,” says Pirko Konsa, Member of the Management Board at Sparkup Tartu Science Park.

Their participation offered a comparison between companies at the pre-accelerator stage and those that have already progressed through an international defence innovation programme.

Defence Business Lab helps early-stage teams validate their market, business model and defence use case. NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic, DIANA, works with deeptech companies selected through NATO-wide challenges and provides access to acceleration, testing opportunities and defence innovation networks across the Alliance.

DATAMBIT and SkyFi are part of the 2026 cohort of the NATO DIANA Estonian Accelerator, while IS-Wireless participated the year before.

Together, the two programmes illustrated how support can evolve as companies move from early validation towards testing, international cooperation and closer engagement with defence and security organisations.

What comes next

For the ten Defence Business Lab teams, the Demo Day marked the conclusion of the programme and the beginning of the next development phase. The focus now moves towards further testing, continued engagement with potential users and partners, investment where required, and converting initial discussions into concrete opportunities for pilots, cooperation or market entry.

About Defence Business Lab

Defence Business Lab is a three-month pre-accelerator for early-stage defence and dual-use companies, organised by Tehnopol and Sparkup Tartu Science Park. The programme combines four development modules, individual mentoring, sector expertise and a €5,000 development grant for participating teams.

Defence Business Lab is funded by the Estonian Ministry of Defence.

About the NATO DIANA Estonian Accelerator

The NATO DIANA Estonian Accelerator is operated by Tehnopol and Sparkup Tartu Science Park. It supports companies selected for NATO DIANA in developing their businesses and technologies, accessing testing opportunities and connecting with defence and security end users, investors and partners across the Alliance.

The NATO DIANA Estonian Accelerator is funded by the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and supported by the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Estonian Ministry of Defence and the City of Tallinn.

View the full event photo gallery here.