{"id":13685,"date":"2025-06-30T11:40:38","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T08:40:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teaduspark.ee\/asvel-named-top-team-at-the-defence-technology-pre-accelerator-demo-day\/"},"modified":"2025-06-30T13:02:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T10:02:00","slug":"asvel-named-top-team-at-the-defence-technology-pre-accelerator-demo-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teaduspark.ee\/en\/asvel-named-top-team-at-the-defence-technology-pre-accelerator-demo-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Asvel Named Top Team at the Defence Technology Pre-Accelerator Demo Day"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The first round of the defence technology pre-accelerator is approaching the finish line. 18. held in June <\/span>at the companies’ demo day<\/span> <\/span>introduced<\/span> Nine Estonian deep tech startups presented their developments to a jury and industry experts to compete for stage time and a booth spot at the event taking place on 22 September. <\/span>Defence<\/span> Innovation <\/span>Day\u2019l <\/span>Tallinnas.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The jury included Jaan Kokk<\/strong>, Partner at Superangel, and Olari P\u00fcvi<\/strong>, representative of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and Accelerator Estonia. Based on their decision, the selected startup was Asvel<\/strong>, whose autonomous robot can automatically control an endoscope camera during minimally invasive surgery. The solution increases surgical precision, reduces the workload of surgeons, and opens up new opportunities for applying medical technology in the defence sector. <\/span><\/p>

According to Minister of Economic Affairs and Industry Erkki Keldo,<\/strong> supporting product development by startups helps elevate Estonia\u2019s defence industry to a new level. \u201cThe development of the defence industry plays a key role in advancing our economy. The pre-accelerator programme helps bring new technologies to market and develop higher value-added products that boost our competitiveness on international markets. We are proud to support initiatives that strengthen Estonia\u2019s position at the forefront of innovation and technological progress,\u201d Keldo emphasized. <\/p>

According to Agnes Roos<\/strong>, CEO of Tehnopol, the startup pitch competition clearly demonstrated the vast potential within Estonia\u2019s defence technology companies. \u201cOur goal is to help technology-based companies grow and create solutions with global impact \u2013 including in national defence,\u201d Roos emphasized. She added that Tehnopol is proud to serve as a platform where these ideas can grow and develop, paving the way toward future international opportunities. <\/p>

Similarly, Pirko Konsa<\/strong>, Member of the Management Board at Tartu Science Park, highlighted the accelerator\u2019s role in maturing early-stage ideas. \u201cThroughout the programme, solutions gained traction \u2013 teams received valuable feedback, analysed the business aspects, and adapted their ideas to meet customer needs,\u201d Konsa explained. He added that the accelerator helps turn ideas on paper into more realistic concepts, laying the groundwork for first collaborations with potential clients and generating increased interest from investors. \u201cIt\u2019s great to do this together with Tehnopol,\u201d he noted. <\/p>

Miiko Peris<\/strong>, Head of the Defence Industry Development Department at the Ministry of Defence, noted that the pre-accelerator programme attracted strong interest and that its successful implementation in cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications confirms the programme is headed in the right direction. \u201cOur goal is to bring technology-driven companies closer to the defence industry and help them navigate this sector more effectively. We look forward to seeing the next success stories \u2013 whether through NATO DIANA, European Defence Fund programmes, or collaborations with the Estonian Defence Forces, the Defence League, or other partners,\u201d said Peris. He added that applications are currently open for the NATO DIANA programme and encouraged all companies to take advantage of the opportunity. <\/p>

According to Andres \u0160avel,<\/strong> a member of the Asvel team, participating in the defence technology pre-accelerator provided valuable input for both product development and international cooperation. \u201cThe defence pre-accelerator gave us not only highly beneficial workshops but also several important contacts \u2013 including with Ukraine \u2013 to help guide the future development of our medical device in light of the rapidly changing conditions of war. Thanks to the accelerator, we gained further confirmation that in wartime scenarios, an efficiently functioning medical system with minimal resources remains absolutely crucial. With our robot-controlled endoscope designed for minimally invasive surgery, we aim to make a significant contribution to improving treatment outcomes for the wounded while reducing the need for medical personnel,\u201d \u0160avel said. <\/p>

The defence technology pre-accelerator is run by Tehnopol Startup Incubator and Sparkup Tartu Science Park. The programme is funded by the Ministry of Defence and supported by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications. The final stage, the demo day, will take place in September and focuses on the teams\u2019 readiness to take their next steps on international markets. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first round of the Defence Technology Pre-Accelerator is nearing its conclusion. At the demo day held on June 18, nine Estonian deeptech startups presented their solutions to a jury and field experts, competing for a pitching slot and booth at the upcoming Defence Innovation Day on September 22 in Tallinn. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":13669,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[242,193],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teaduspark.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teaduspark.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teaduspark.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teaduspark.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teaduspark.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13685"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/teaduspark.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13686,"href":"https:\/\/teaduspark.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13685\/revisions\/13686"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teaduspark.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teaduspark.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teaduspark.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teaduspark.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}