Defence Trailblazer empowers veteran entrepreneurs

Defence Trailblazer is empowering Australian Defence Force veterans to establish themselves as founders of early-stage companies that deliver sovereign capability. Since 2023, Defence’s Trailblazer innovation programs have provided a launchpad for veterans and innovators from all backgrounds to pursue defence industry opportunities. In Defence Trailblazer’s intensive Entrepreneurial Foundations for Defence course, nearly one third of cohort participants to date are veterans or currently serving — proving its value for the veteran community. “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.” Two veterans who have taken the journey from ADF service member to Defence capability provider shared the origin stories of their ventures, the challenges they encountered as founders, and how Defence Trailblazer’s award-winning DINAMIC innovation program has equipped them with the knowledge, skills and connections to become successful in the defence industry. Daniel Stevens, Seitec Royal Australian Air Force member Daniel Stevens left the armed forces to become the founder and CEO of Seitec, a seismic technology company that detects unexploded ordnance. During Stevens’ service in the RAAF, he identified an opportunity to recover ordnance using an array of seismic sensors. With industry wary of investing in the new technology, he decided to create a spin-out company himself, explaining: “You only get one shot in life — this was an opportunity to create something that could save time, money, and potentially lives.” Stevens was supported to separate from Defence to develop and commercialise the technology: “Everyone, right up to the Chief of Air Force, helped to make it happen. They hold that view that it’s a massive win for Defence for a uniformed member to go out and have a crack at building this system.” Stevens completed the DINAMIC program in 2025 and he credits Defence Trailblazer in helping him plan for rapid growth in the defence market. Seitec’s technology is currently undergoing testing by the ADF and the US Air Force, and the company is also engaging with the intelligence sector. Discussions with defence stakeholders have also highlighted additional promising applications for the technology. “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.” Emily Pyke, UndaTech Emily Pyke was a Petty Officer in the Royal Australian Navy when she co-founded UndaTech, which develops protective, high-performance base layers for high-risk workforces in Defence, emergency services, resources and construction. “I wanted to develop a solution to a problem that I experienced every single day being in uniform,” said Ms Pyke. “In my eyes, a lot of the best innovation actually comes from those serving within the ADF.” Pyke and UndaTech co-founder Elisabeth Hudson began their entrepreneurial journey by progressing through the complete suite of DINAMIC programs. In 2024, they enrolled in the Defence 10x innovation program, delivered by Defence Trailblazer and UNSW Founders, and won the Chief of Navy’s Innovation Award. “For about three years, I juggled working in the Navy and being a founder of UndaTech. We’ve now built UndaTech from concept to an early-stage operational company with a small dedicated full-time team.” UndaTech’s products have since been operationally validated through trials with the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Royal Australian Air Force and Australian firefighters. The company operates 22 active procurement pathways across 12 markets, holds registered supplier status with UK and Australian governments, and is running product trials with high-risk sector partners across the UK, EU, New Zealand, Canada and Australia. Pyke commends Defence Trailblazer for helping early-stage companies to overcome the “valley of death” from start-up to defence industry venture. “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. Defence Trailblazer has helped us build that infrastructure at a very foundational level. As we scale, we’ve been able to support the growth of our company whilst also achieving compliance status as required by Defence. For instance, UndaTech recently gained its conditional DISP accreditation, a process that typically takes 18–24 months. We would not be where we are without this support. Without Defence Trailblazer and its successor programs, there would be a critical gap in early-stage sovereign capability.” With Defence Trailblazer concluding in December 2026, the next chapter will be AUSDII, the Australian Defence Industry Incubator. AUSDII fills a unique and unmet role in the Australian defence innovation ecosystem, functioning as Australia’s commercialisation and scaling engine for defence and dual‑use technologies. AUSDII will prepare early-stage companies to scale and meet the standards required by Defence, defence industry and investor stakeholders simultaneously, closing the gap between concept and deployable capability. For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Kym Bergmann at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Group Sales Director Simon Hadfield at [email protected]