EUDIS Defence Hackathon 2026: Empowering Mature Teams Through Follow-On Mentoring

Taking place across eight European countries during 26 to 28 March 2026, the EUDIS Defence Hackathon offers startups, deep-tech experienced teams and defence-focused innovators the opportunity to adapt and validate their existing solutions against the concrete defence challenges facing Europe. Beyond the hackathon weekend, winning teams will participate in a structured mentoring programme that connects […]
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EUDIS Defence Hackathon 2026: Empowering Mature Teams Through Follow-On Mentoring
EUDIS Defence Hackathon 2026: Empowering Mature Teams Through Follow-On Mentoring
February 25, 2026
Taking place across eight European countries during 26 to 28 March 2026, the EUDIS Defence Hackathon offers startups, deep-tech experienced teams and defence-focused innovators the opportunity to adapt and validate their existing solutions against the concrete defence challenges facing Europe. Beyond the hackathon weekend, winning teams will participate in a structured mentoring programme that connects them directly with European defence stakeholders and decision-makers across the defence innovation ecosystem.
Under the theme
Defending Airspace
, this initiative goes beyond a traditional innovation weekend. Designed as part of the EU Defence Innovation Scheme (EUDIS) under the European Defence Fund, the hackathon is built to generate tangible, defence-relevant outcomes. In addition to mentoring, winning and highlighted teams will have the opportunity to participate in prominent European-level defence and innovation events, pitching their solutions to industry leaders, investors and institutional stakeholders.
Now in its fourth edition, the EUDIS Defence Hackathon builds on three successful editions and more than 1,200 participants, continuing to strengthen Europe’s defence innovation ecosystem and connect mature technologies with real operational needs.
The Spring 2026 hackathon will take place simultaneously across eight countries — the
Czech Republic, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Spain
— bringing together innovators from across Europe to collaborate within a coordinated, EU-level framework. Participants from EU Member States, Norway and Ukraine are welcome to apply and may join any of the eight hackathon locations, regardless of their country of origin. All hackathons will take place on site.
A platform for mature teams and deployable solutions
The EUDIS Defence Hackathon is designed for experienced innovators ready to test and adapt existing technologies in a defence context.
The hackathon is particularly aimed at
mature dual-use and defence-relevant startups, deep-tech teams with advanced R&D or pre-commercial prototypes, engineering teams with products in adjacent domains
, as well as
defence industry professionals and SMEs.
While advanced student teams are welcome, the focus is clear:
the objective is not to generate ideas, but to advance solutions.
In line with the European Union’s continued cooperation with Ukraine,
Ukrainian participants are actively encouraged to take part across all locations
— including as competitors, mentors and jury members — ensuring that operational perspectives and real-world experience help shape the development of credible and deployable solutions.
Beyond the Weekend: Mentoring and European-Level Exposure
A key differentiating element of the EUDIS Defence Hackathon is its structured follow-on mentoring programme. Unlike many hackathons that conclude with prize awards, EUDIS provides all winning teams with access to a two-month mentoring phase designed to accelerate development and align solutions with defence market realities.
The programme combines defence ecosystem immersion with business model refinement, product validation, roadmap alignment and pitch preparation. It also includes dedicated in-person defence innovation bootcamps, where teams engage directly with experts on product development, end-user alignment and strategic positioning. Supported by a curated pool of experienced defence and innovation professionals, teams receive tailored guidance to move from promising solutions to defence-ready positioning.
Selected teams also gain European-level visibility through pitching sessions, participation in defence and innovation events, and networking opportunities with industry leaders, investors and EU stakeholders. The hackathon therefore acts not only as a development platform, but as a gateway to deeper integration within Europe’s defence innovation ecosystem.
Join our Info Session for participants to learn more
To support potential participants, EUDIS is organising a dedicated
Info Session for participants on 4 March 2026 at 13:00 CET,
providing a comprehensive overview of the opportunity.
During the session, interested teams will learn more about the Defending Airspace challenges, understand the profiles and technologies sought, explore the structure of the mentoring programme, meet representatives of the organising teams and ask questions directly.
The Info Session offers a valuable opportunity to assess how participation in EUDIS can support the validation, adaptation and scaling of defence-relevant solutions. Interested innovators are encouraged to register and secure their place via the following link:
https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/790526cd-a9f1-43ee-bce2-4ad31000f23b@ef7a6a1f-5022-49f9-b604-23fe0429a191
Timeline
Participant registrations: 16 February – 20 March 2026
Hackathon events: 26–28 March 2026
Participant Info Session: 4 March 2026, 13:00 CET
Interested innovators can register and find more information on the theme, the challenges and the Local Hackathons in the official website:
https://eudis-hackathon.eu
For media enquiries, partnerships or additional information, please contact:
contact@eudis-hackathon.eu
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