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Defence Trailblazer has highlighted the success of its program for veteran entrepreneurial innovation and acceleration.
Defence Trailblazer’s DINAMIC (Defence, Industry, Academia, Military, Innovation & Commercialisation) Innovation Program seeks to provide the knowledge and skills necessary to establish a successful defence-aligned business in Australia.
The wider Defence Trailblazer’s Entrepreneurial Foundations course, which has a cohort of nearly one-thirds veterans or currently serving Australian Defence Force members, allows participants to transfer the lessons learned on the battlefield into practical business knowledge.
“Veterans have first-hand knowledge of the problems that they experience in their everyday operational roles, and they are uniquely placed to innovate solutions that are practical and ready to go,” said Liz Kobold, innovation portfolio manager at Defence Trailblazer.
“Our innovation programs aim to help them convert their ideas into a prototype, support their commercialisation journey and support their development as enterprise leaders.”
Emily Pyke, who served as a petty officer in the Royal Australian Navy, completed the DINAMIC programs to accelerate UndaTech, a company developing protective base undergarments and layers for defence and emergency services personnel.
“To work with Defence, it’s a requirement to have infrastructure in place across IT, cyber, legal and governance – and as a start-up, that is very challenging to navigate,” she said.
“Defence Trailblazer has helped us build that infrastructure at a very foundational level.
“In my eyes, a lot of the best innovation actually comes from those serving within the ADF.”
Daniel Stevens served in the Royal Australian Air Force and following service, founded Seitec, a technology company that can offer services to detect unexploded ordnance, a market gap he identified while in service.
Completing Defence Trailblazer’s program last year, he said the DINAMIC initiative greatly aided his growth in the industry, as he embarked on testing with the ADF and US Air Force.
“I feel immensely proud that I’m able to give back to Defence – I can provide more and more capability to Defence as Seitec grows,” he said.
Applications for Defence Trailblazer’s Entrepreneurial Foundations for Defence program closes on 30 June.
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