The DEFINE Accelerator (Riihimäki, Finland) supports deeptech companies building dual-use technologies for European defence and security. Lifetime Oy applied because DWS IQ Aegis solves a problem no other platform addresses: the intersection of EU climate compliance and defence supply chain sovereignty.
The core insight: Defence contractors face the same CSRD, CBAM, and EU ETS obligations as civilian industry — but they also face export control (Reg. 2021/821), NIS2 cybersecurity mandates, and data sovereignty requirements that make US-cloud AI platforms unsuitable. Every dual-use manufacturer needs compliance AI, but that AI must run on EU-sovereign infrastructure with zero CLOUD Act exposure.
What DEFINE enables: Access to Finland's defence ecosystem — 60+ member companies including ICEYE (SAR satellite partner), IQM (quantum computing), Patria, and the newly opened NATO DIANA test site in Espoo. DEFINE validation accelerates Aegis adoption across all 11 dual-use industry verticals served by DWS IQ.