Dobbelgänger has been chosen as the winner of the DEFINE Pitch Finland DefSec startup competition held in Riihimäki on 7 June 2024. Dobbelgänger got its start in VTT’s accelerator programme. The company has now won a EUR 100,000 investment from a group of angel and venture capital investors in the defence startup competition. Dobbelgänger has developed lightweight and easy-to-assemble decoy devices that are able to mimic, for example, thermal and radar signatures. The six other finalists of the Pitch Finland DefSec startup competition also impressed the angel investors.

Dobbelgänger has long cooperated with the Finnish Defence Forces and the technology is considered revolutionary. The jury, made up of veterans of the defence and investment sectors, commented on the choice of winner with praise.

“Dobbelgänger has built extremely fine technology. Product development has been carried out together with the Finnish Defence Forces from the very beginning. All the structures can, for example, be assembled without tools. The CEO’s all-round competence and hands-on attitude are also truly convincing,” summarises jury member Tiina Laisi-Puheloinen, CEO of FiBAN and one of the competition’s organisers.

The other six finalists are the companies MarshallAI, ReLoc, AirHUD, PictM Technologies Oy, Spectacular AI, and Wayren. ReLoc’s parent company Gim Robotics is so far the only Finnish company to have been selected for NATO’s DIANA accelerator.

The judges of the competition were Thorsten Claus, lead and investor at the NATO Innovation Fund; National Armaments Director, Major General Mikko Heiskanen; Riku Asikainen, founder of Evli Growth Partners and FiBAN; Jan-Erik Saarinen of Double Tap Investment; Teemu Seppälä, Technology and Innovation Director of the City of Riihimäki; and Tiina Laisi-Puheloinen, CEO of FiBAN.

About the Pitch Finland DefSec startup competition
The event was organised by FiBAN (Finnish Business Angels Network ry), Tesi (Suomen Teollisuussijoitus Oy) VTT (Teknologian tutkimuskeskus VTT Oy), Business Finland, the City of Riihimäki, the DEFINE Innovation Network Finland network, FVCA – Pääomasijoittajat ry and Kyberala ry. The event was organised as part of the DEFINE project led by the City of Riihimäki, in connection with MaanpuolustusAreena and the Kansainväliset Erämessut fair in Riihimäki in June 2024.