The top prize was awarded to Stickleback Robotics AUV, a team developing a small, cost-effective and hard-to-detect autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) designed for near-surface operations. In recognition of their pioneering work, Stickleback Robotics will proceed to the Darkstar Defence Hackathon in Ukraine, and the Estonian Navy is already set to evaluate their winning drone technology closely.
Second place went to team VoxIntel, who presented a voice-to-text application for the battlefield. This innovative solution is designed to ensure that critical information can be communicated rapidly and clearly in high-pressure scenarios. VoxIntel has been accepted into the Estonian Defence Business Lab 2026 accelerator to further develop and refine their concept.
Third place was secured by No More Tape Measures, a project that automates the measurement and sizing process within the defence forces' formation system. Demonstrating the breadth of talent at the event, the solution was created by two secondary school students. The Commander of the Estonian Cyber Command has already invited the young innovators to test their system with the military in July.
In addition to the top three teams, the Estonian Business School and Darkstar awarded several mini-prizes to other outstanding participants whose ideas showed significant potential.
The hackathon clearly demonstrated the transformative power of focused collaboration. Organisers and participants alike are excited to follow how these early-stage ideas develop into real-world innovations that could help define the future of defence technology.
