Investor · 6 deals
Every published round Defence Trailblazer took part in, and every parcel of existing shares it bought off another holder. Deals we hold but haven't published yet are not counted.
| Company | Stage | Announced | Amount | Role | Alongside | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ocius | Grant | 11 Mar 2026 | $176m | Lead | Startup Daily, Defence Connect | |
| Ghost Fire Systems | Accelerator | 27 May 2025 | - | Lead | Defence Connect, @AuManufacturing | |
| Hullbot | Accelerator | 25 Jun 2023 | - | Participant | manmonthly.com.au, Startup Daily | |
| Praxis | Accelerator | undated | - | Lead | manmonthly.com.au, Startup News (WA) | |
| Electric Motor Power | Accelerator | undated | - | Lead | manmonthly.com.au | |
| CleanSubSea | Accelerator | undated | - | Lead | manmonthly.com.au, Startup News (WA) |
Everyone Defence Trailblazer has named to a program in published coverage. A place in a program is not a raise: the cheque is the figure recorded with the place, which is the program's standard terms where we hold them, and a blank is one we don't.
Companies Defence Trailblazer has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ocius | Sydney maritime drone maker that sold 40 vessels to the Navy for $176 million. | 11 Mar 2026, Grant | 1 | 1 |
| Ghost Fire Systems | 27 May 2025, Accelerator | 1 | 1 | |
| Hullbot | Deploys autonomous underwater robots to solve biofouling for ship hulls | 25 Jun 2023, Accelerator | 1 | 0 |
| CleanSubSea | Accelerator | 1 | 1 | |
| Electric Motor Power | Accelerator | 1 | 1 | |
| Praxis | Accelerator | 1 | 1 |
Fund closes reported for Defence Trailblazer, as distinct from the investments it has made.
Companies Defence Trailblazer has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal Defence Trailblazer did.
| Name | Role | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Dr Margaret Law | General Manager of Technology Development and Acceleration | australianmanufacturingnews.com, dtb.solutions, Defence Connect, processonline.com.au, manmonthly.com.au, defenceinnovationreview.com, @AuManufacturing |
| Dr Sanjay Mazumdar | Executive Director | dtb.solutions, @AuManufacturing |
| Liz Kobold | Innovation Manager | dtb.solutions |
| Paul Daly | Entrepreneurship Program Manager | dtb.solutions, Defence Connect |
| Richard Williamson | Project Manager | australianmanufacturingnews.com, dtb.solutions, Defence Connect, processonline.com.au, manmonthly.com.au, defenceinnovationreview.com |
Stories naming Defence Trailblazer. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Defence Trailblazer funds emissions-reduction projects with Electric Motor Power, Ocius Technology and Praxis, and profiles renewable-technology ventures from its Entrepreneurial Foundations for Defence program.
HEO has released early imagery from its first close-range orbital inspection mission, with Continuum-1 imaging a rocket body alongside partners Satellogic and UNSW Canberra Space under Defence Trailblazer funding.
Defence Trailblazer showcases its researchers, ventures and projects at an Adelaide defence summit, citing over $140 million in industry support, as it prepares to hand over to AUSDII.
HEO and UNSW Canberra Space have performed Australia's first propelled satellite rendezvous manoeuvre with the Continuum-1 spacecraft, a Defence Trailblazer-funded effort advancing sovereign space domain awareness skills.
South Australian hollow-core fibre navigation project by Adelaide University, Northrop Grumman Australia and Norseld won almost half a million dollars in federal Ignite grant funding, adding to earlier Defence Trailblazer support.
University–government partnership Defence Trailblazer showcases the clean, low-emission defence projects it is funding with industry, plus ventures developed through its entrepreneurship readiness program.
Also Startup Daily
Defence Trailblazer is advancing emissions-cutting defence technology projects pairing companies with university researchers, and names seven ventures in its Entrepreneurial Foundations for Defence program.
Defence Trailblazer is running clean-energy projects with university and industry partners for Australian defence; its EFD program backs seven ventures developing batteries, drone power, hull-cleaning robots and solar tech.
Five Australian defence startups graduated from Defence Trailblazer's High Growth Incubation stage, the final step of its DINAMIC pathway, with each company receiving grant support of as much as $150,000.
UNSW Founders partnered with Luminary Partners to invest $200,000 each in 18 early-stage deeptech startups across its 2025 accelerator cohorts, extending prior backing arrangements.
A satellite-servicing firm leads a collaborative effort, backed by program funding, to build a robotic test facility with university and defence partners; its 2026 debris mission earlier received an $8.5 million space agency grant.
Roundup: ClearVue gets a $935,000 research tax credit; UNSW and Northrop Grumman Australia team up on quantum communications; Sentinel Boats shows an autonomous vessel; UOW leads national research rankings; LETA welcomes CCS progress.
Defence Trailblazer grants Silex Systems $5.1 million to build commercial-scale zero spin silicon output at its Sydney plant, securing local supply for quantum chipmaker Silicon Quantum Computing.
A $50m federal grant funds an Adelaide-led defence research commercialisation centre, with matching pledges from universities, CSIRO and industry partners; a Curtin-led resources hub and engineering internship funding were also announced.