Launching the Defence & Dual-Use Track: Why Europe Can't Afford to Wait

Warsaw, April 2026 — Today, Bakery Ventures formally launches the MESGA Defence & Dual-Use Accelerator Track — a dedicated 100-day programme designed for founders whose technology operates at the intersection of commercial innovation and European strategic security. It is the third vertical in the MESGA programme, joining the established EduTech and Space & the City tracks.

The decision to launch this track was not made lightly, nor was it made quickly. It reflects a fundamental shift in how Europe is thinking about its own technological sovereignty — and a recognition, long overdue, that the continent cannot rely on strategic goodwill indefinitely when it comes to the technologies that underpin its critical infrastructure, its borders, and its defence capacity.

The EU's revised dual-use regulation framework, combined with NATO's accelerating push toward commercial technology integration through initiatives such as DIANA and the NATO Innovation Fund, has created a rare opening: a moment where defence-adjacent startups can move from margin to mainstream, provided they have the right support infrastructure around them. That infrastructure is precisely what the MESGA Defence & Dual-Use track is built to provide.

What makes this track different from a generic deep-tech accelerator is specificity. Founders accepted into the Defence & Dual-Use cohort will work directly with procurement specialists, legal advisors on dual-use export classifications, and institutional partners inside both NATO-member defence establishments and EU agency ecosystems. The programme doesn't pretend that defence-tech is just like any other B2B sales cycle — because it isn't. The procurement timelines are longer, the compliance requirements are stricter, and the customer relationships are built over years, not quarters.

The track is explicitly designed to welcome founders from CEE. This is not an arbitrary geographical preference — it reflects the structural reality that the countries closest to Europe's eastern frontier have both the strongest security-oriented founding culture and, historically, the worst access to the institutional networks required to scale defence-adjacent technology commercially. MESGA is built to change that ratio.

Technologies of interest for the inaugural cohort include, but are not limited to: situational awareness and sensor fusion, critical infrastructure resilience, secure communications and cybersecurity for government entities, autonomous systems with civil and military applications, logistics and supply-chain intelligence, and AI-powered decision support tools for complex, high-stakes operational environments.

Importantly, this track is not exclusively for companies already embedded in defence procurement pipelines. Some of the most compelling dual-use opportunities come from founders who have built excellent commercial technology and are now recognising its applicability — and commercial value — in regulated, security-sensitive markets. The MESGA programme helps both types of founder navigate the transition.

Applications for the Defence & Dual-Use inaugural cohort are now open at mesga.eu/defence. The cohort begins in June 2026. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis; early applicants are encouraged to apply before May 15th for priority review.