European Commission Launches the EUDIS Business Accelerator and Matchmaking Programme for defence technology founders in the European Union and Norway

Brussels, February 12, 2025 – Today the European Commission officially launched the EUDIS Business Accelerator and Matchmaking (BAMM) programme under the EU Defence Innovation Scheme (EUDIS), a flagship initiative of the European Defence Fund (EDF) to support new defence companies. This was made during the programme kick-off meeting attended by François Arbault, Director for Defence Industry at the European Commission and François Chopard, CEO of Starburst representing the consortium responsible for implementing the BAMM (Starburst Accelerator SAS – France/Germany, WSL – Belgium, Civitta Eesti AS – Estonia and VTT Technical Research Centre – Finland). In addition to this consortium, other partners across various EU Member States will play a crucial role in scaling up and broadening the programme’s reach.

This initiative highlights the EU’s strong commitment to fostering defence innovation, industrial readiness, preparedness and competitiveness of the European defence industrial ecosystem. These services aim to provide faster and leaner support to defence technology founders – start-ups, scale-ups and SMEs in navigating the defence market while enhancing their access to financing and partnerships.

The EUDIS BAMM programme features two key services:

EUDIS Business Accelerator: will provide comprehensive support to 20 companies over an 8-month acceleration period including strengthening knowledge about defence end-users´ needs, enhancing business development and go-to-market capabilities through dedicated testing activities, training,  coaching and matchmaking. The Business Accelerator will feature 6 onsite Bootcamps over several European destinations to enable European wide networking and dual-use exploration. Additionally, exhibitions and matchmaking events will enable companies to engage with potential investors, customers and end-users. The accelerator will conclude with an investor Demo Day scheduled in February 2026. Selected companies will receive a seed-financing voucher of €65,000.  A call for 20 companies to apply for the Accelerator programme is set to open in March 2025. The initiative is set to scale up in the coming years, expanding its reach to support more companies and foster innovation within the European defence ecosystem.

EUDIS Matchmaking: as a complement to the Business Accelerator, this initiative will facilitate connections between start-ups, SMEs and small mid-caps with investors, government entities and corporate partners to improve companies´ access to financing, making them investment-ready and strengthening their defence networks across the continent. Both online and in-person matchmaking events will be organized throughout the matchmaking programme. This initiative will contribute to structure a network of European investors supporting defence innovation.

The EUDIS BAMM services will contribute to advancing EUDIS’s mission of lowering barriers for smaller players in the defence sector while building a robust innovation ecosystem across the EU. Starting in March 2025, the two initiatives are set to enhance the technological readiness and market maturity for emerging players.

For further information, please consult www.eudis.europa.eu

Media Contact: Cécile Josse, Communications, Global/France

For media inquiries: cecile@starburst.aero