Five Australian defence technology ventures – Breaker Industries, Extag, Advent Atum, Ghost Fire Systems and Seitec – are celebrating the successful completion of a Defence Trailblazer advanced commercialisation program to accelerate sovereign defence capabilities.
The Defence Trailblazer High Growth Incubation (HGI) program is the final stage of the Defence Trailblazer’s 18-month commercialisation pathway, DINAMIC. Throughout the DINAMIC pathway, participants have access to 120+ highly skilled experts that provide in-kind support. Each company is advised by a minimum of five experts throughout their journey to high growth incubation. The HGI program supports ventures with products at advanced levels of technical development. HGI provides founders with deep insights, teaching them the skills needed to lead and manage a high growth enterprise. All participants benefit from weekly access to two highly experienced coaches to help them plan for the stages of business growth ahead.
Defence Trailblazer provides each of the ventures with up to $150k in grant funding to implement their high growth strategies. Ventures are also provided with the opportunity to pitch to Defence Trailblazer’s investor network.
Seitec CEO Daniel Stevens leads 12 employees, developing exciting seismic sensor technology for military and civilian applications. The HGI program has been instrumental in helping Mr Stevens plan for rapid growth in the defence market. “The Defence Trailblazer team should be proud of the program they have developed and run,” said Stevens. “Seitec has extracted an exceptional amount of value from the program, which will aid in the company’s approach to investment and scaling.”
Ghost Fire Systems, a start-up that develops and manufactures electronic battlefield simulators, has also benefited from the support and guidance of Defence Trailblazer. “My journey wouldn’t have been possible without the Defence Trailblazer team,” said co-founder of Ghost Fire Systems, Brett Harex. “Today, we have manufactured our first eight prototypes and conducted two Defence trials, we travelled to the U.S. to showcase with Team Defence Australia at Special Operations Forces Week 2025, and we’re starting the R&D for several more products.”
Selection for HGI is highly competitive, with the cohort chosen from ventures that have successfully completed earlier phases of DINAMIC. To ensure that there are strong prospects for defence procurement, Defence personnel are actively engaged in the selection process.
Paul Daly, Entrepreneurship Program Manager at Defence Trailblazer, said of the ventures: “We were very pleased to have such an outstanding group of founders participate in the program. It culminated in tailored one-on-one meetings with receptive investors in Sydney. We will follow the progress of these exciting ventures with great anticipation and will continue to assist them.”
Defence Trailblazer established DINAMIC to quickly deliver innovations and technologies that increase Australian Defence capabilities. The 18-month program provides researchers, innovators and emerging companies with entrepreneurship and commercialisation upskilling, and supports the pursuit of cross-sector (dual-use) and international market opportunities for innovators. DINAMIC includes multi-day bootcamps, a three-month Entrepreneurial Foundations program, the Defence 10X accelerator, a 90-day technical incubation stage, and the HGI program – all designed to provide ventures with defence, commercial and technical readiness.
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