Estonia's Wayren raises €7.9 million for defence software
What's the deal? WayrenDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, an Estonian defence-tech startup founded in 2020 by former military software engineers, has raised €7.9 million from efa groupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and its subsidiary scytalysDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
How it got here: Wayren passed through the NATO DIANA Estonian Accelerator, run by Tallinn science park TehnopolDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The park accepted 115 of 578 applicant teams in 2025, and those startups collectively raised €12.8 million.
The backdrop: Tehnopol, a public foundation next to the TalTech campus, has shifted from Estonia's consumer-tech heritage — Skype, Wise, and Bolt — toward defence and dual-use technologies. Its incubator charges no monthly fees, taking a 2% equity option instead.
Why now? Of the €12.8 million raised by participating startups in 2025, €7.4 million came from public funding and €5.4 million from private investors. That mix supports early-stage defence and deep-tech firms, where payback periods run long.
Who else made the cut: Fellow alumni include Lobster RoboticsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, whose seabed-mapping robots were picked by the Royal Netherlands Navy, and Askara AI SolutionsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, which partnered with defence prime ThalesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
By the numbers: Incubator head Anne-Liisa Elbrecht said "around 60% of our startups survive, which is an excellent result in this field." Organisers summed up the accelerator's value as "pressure, rhythm and clarity."
The signal: Wayren's round shows how Baltic deep-tech is reorienting around defence as public and private capital converge on dual-use ventures at Europe's eastern edge.
Read more: n24.com.tr
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
