EUDIS Business Accelerator aims to enhance start-ups’ and scale-ups’ understanding of the defence environment and end-user needs, and strengthen their business development, enter the defence market and go-to-market capabilities.
How does it work?
The EUDIS Business Accelerator offers a tailored support to European start-ups & scale-ups over an 8-month programme featuring five dedicated bootcamps across defence industrial ecosystems in Europe.
In 2026, we will support 40 start-up and scale-up companies across two cohorts. Twenty companies will join our Spring cohort starting in March 2026, with a further 20 selected for the Autumn cohort beginning in September 2026.
Call for applications:
- Spring Cohort: 16 December 2025 – 25 January 2026
- Autumn Cohort: May – June 2026
The programme is open for start-ups and scale-ups' from EU Member States and Norway. Entities from Ukraine can take part in the EUDIS Business Accelerator’s matchmaking activities.
The companies will gain valuable insights into defence end-users' needs and strengthen their business development and go-to-market strategies. They will receive get dedicated training and coaching by industry experts, exclusive networking opportunities, engagement with investors and defence stakeholders. Selected companies will receive a €120,000 seed-financing voucher and top 3 teams will receive additional €50,000 funding.
At the end of the program, the companies will demonstrate their achievements to defence end-users from EU Member States and Norway at a prominent tech event or defence exhibition.
Rewards and Benefits
- Strengthen the EUDIS Business Accelerator’s start-up and scale-up companies’ knowledge of defence environment and business development.
- Improve their access to financing, making them investment-ready, providing them with seed-financing vouchers of €120,000 per company, training and coaching sessions. Top 3 teams will receive additional €50,000 funding.
- Provide companies with testing opportunities to create in-demand innovative defence solutions.
- Strengthen start-ups, scale-ups, SMEs and small mid-caps’ networks and engagement with defence end-users, investors and corporates through EUDIS matchmaking events.
- Facilitate capacity building for investors by offering insights on the defence market and technologies.
A Business Accelerator provides innovation and business development support to SMEs for start-up and scale-up companies.
The EUDIS Business Accelerator adds defence training, testing and validation, and interaction with the defence end-users from EU Member States and Norway to this general set-up of a Business Accelerator. These features are highly necessary to be successful on the defence market.
If you are a start-up or scale-up company, for example aiming at entering the defence market or strengthening your existing position in the defence market and defence industrial eco-system, applying for the EUDIS Business Accelerator would be an interesting way forward.
You would meet a programme designed to support you to understand the defence market, receive coaching and training on both defence and business, grow your business, and meet with innovation partners, end-users and investors, which may be hard to accomplish successfully on your own.
In 2026, we will run two application calls. Applications for the Spring Cohort will be accepted from 16 December 2025 to 25 January 2026, while applications for the Autumn Cohort will open in May–June 2026.
No, the Commission will not ask for any equity or ownership of IPRs in relation to the start-up and scale-up companies’ participation in the EUDIS Business Accelerator.