Call for Expressions of Interest – IDEM

12 Jan. 2026

The CIEDS and the French Joint defence staff, in partnership with the AID and the IP Paris incubators, are launching a Call for Expressions of Interest aimed at start-ups within the IP Paris ecosystem, with a view to their participation in the IDEM initiative.

Adapting Our Defences Through Deep-Tech Start-ups

Today, defence innovation is no longer solely long-term planned innovation; across all new domains of conflict — from space to the deep seabed and through very high altitude, as well as in the information and cyber systems fields — France is exposed to diverse or hybrid forms of aggression, very often based on the diversion of civilian technologies.

In addition to so-called conventional weapons, the French Ministry of Defence must therefore adapt its means of action to respond to these new forms of aggression. This constant adaptation of our defences — the “shields” against new “swords” — relies in particular on strengthened partnerships with deep-tech start-ups.

Testing New Innovative Solutions

Within this framework, in collaboration with CIEDS and the IP Paris incubators, the French Joint defence staff, with the support of AID, is trialling a new initiative, IDEM (Innovations for Military Exercises). Following an “open innovation” approach, IDEM aims to diversify the sources of innovative solutions tested during large-scale exercises.

These solutions, developed mainly for civilian markets in the case of the IP Paris incubators, must be sufficiently mature to operate in a real environment. The level of maturity required from start-ups corresponds to that of a product or service developed for a civilian-sector use case.

Are you convinced that the product or service developed by your start-up could provide a solution for a defence use case?

Take advantage of this Call for Expressions of Interest to test your solution’s relevance in front of personnel from the French Ministry of Defence !

Timeline

2 February 2026, 10:00–12:00: presentation workshop on the initiative (X-Novation Centre). Registration is free but required.
15 February 2026: launch of the call for projects
16 March 2026: application submission deadline
16 April 2026: list of projects selected for pitching
28 April 2026: pitch session
1 June 2026: announcement of projects selected by the Army, Navy, or Air and Space Force
From June 2026: start of iteration between the selected start-up and the interested armed force

Download the framework note

About the CIEDS

Supported by the French Ministry of Defence and the French Defence Innovation Agency, the CIEDS is an interdisciplinary defence centre at the Institut Polytechnique de Paris. It works to develop breakthrough technologies with high added value for defence and to raise awareness of defence issues. The centre is involved in research, training and innovation and operates across the six schools of the Institut Polytechnique de Paris.

For more information