“We must find ways for encouraging and enabling cross-collaboration” – Fabian Sepulveda joins the DDE team
Introducing the latest addition to the Digital Defence Ecosystem team: Dr. Fabian Sepulveda!
Joining the ecosystem as Partnership Development Lead, Fabian’s background is in electrical engineering, satellite and terrestrial telecommunications, and ATM technologies. Having also worked for decades in investment banking, VC and Angel investing, and as an educator at several universities, Fabian is highly embedded in the startup ecosystem.
“I’ve been lending my technical expertise and experience as an investor to help startups since the early 2010s. My involvement has included business development support, coaching, mentoring, facilitating startup accelerators and incubators, arranging hackathons and the like.”
Since 2012, Fabian has been teaching subjects like venture creation, business model innovation and innovation leadership at Aalto University’s executive education programs and other top universities.
“While I don’t have a background in defence, my diverse experience enables me to see creative opportunities that are not conditioned by me coming from this industry. I’m looking at our ecosystem as a whole, listening to people and exploring their capabilities to identify places for collaboration and creating something unique that has commercial potential.”
Accelerating collaboration to boost export efforts
Fabian’s role within DDE revolves around creating and facilitating opportunities for Finnish companies to enter the competitive U.S. defence market. He’s also involved in strengthening the ecosystem’s collaborative efforts with DEFINE.
“My objective is to help our member companies establish and/or expand business partnerships in the USA, whether they are with the military, or other defence and security operators such as the NSA or CIA. The long-term goal is to create a bilateral collaborative model between the U.S. and Finland, with a mutual value flow.”
For this to happen, Fabian has his sights set on accelerating collaboration among DDE member companies.
“The ecosystem is already off to a fantastic start. Now we need to take things further and find ways to encourage and enable cross-collaboration. I’m currently gathering insight on what kinds of collaboration opportunities our members would find most motivating and accessible. Another focus area is to better articulate our mission and purpose – positioning ourselves as a purpose-driven organization is especially important for American audiences.”
Unlocking the U.S. market
Conquering the U.S. requires picking a strategic starting spot. Having lived in Finland for almost 20 years, Fabian is originally from North Carolina – a key region in the North American defence market.
“With the 4th largest military presence in the United States and a robust dual-use ecosystem in place, North Carolina is a great platform to catapult our member companies’ U.S. operations and engage in partnerships with regional military branches, users, customers and influencers. This way, we can provide DDE members access to networks, opportunities, and training on how to address and tackle the local defence market.”
Please reach out to Fabian to discuss your company’s specific interests to enter or expand in the USA!
