We sat down with Meri Heikkinen, a Fund Manager of Unmanned.vc to chat about their search of new promising unmanned-technology developers/startups and interest of the Estonian investment landscape. And sure we’re happy to welcome Unmanned.vc as EstBAN new Fund Member and involve them into the Estonian angel investor community.
Meri, tell us a bit about your fund and yourself.
Unmanned.VC is an investment unit of Modirum, a deep-technology company with a strong footprint in the defense sector. Modirum’s products include advanced munitions, naval systems, and mission-critical software, including C2 systems and swarming for autonomous operations.
Unmanned.VC was established to foster a collaborative ecosystem among trusted partners within our network. We back seed-stage defense technology startups, with a particular emphasis on unmanned and autonomous technologies.
I am currently the only full-time employee of Unmanned.vc, supported by experienced advisors. Ellis Huber and Josh Henriques, founders of 2Raw Aerials, contribute their UAV technology expertise to evaluating startups. From Modirum, Elias Silvola, Jari Heikkinen, and Tero Silvola provide strategic industry insights.
About myself – as originally from Finland, I have been actively involved in Aalto University’s startup ecosystem, contributing to hackathons, startup events, a startup recruitment portal, programs for early-stage entrepreneurs, and Research-to-Business (R2B) projects. My professional experience also includes working at a B2B SaaS startup, where I focused on handling credit applications and improving an internal credit tool. Passionate about new technologies and innovation, I’m always reading about the topic when I have time. Outside of work, you can often find me jogging through the streets of Tallinn.
Where does the name ‘unmanned’ come from – I initially thought it means you either have no employees (a robot must be leading it?) or you have a female-only team.
The name Unmanned has nothing to do with gender. Rather, it reflects the fund’s investment thesis: the future is shaped by unmanned systems, such as drones, autonomous vehicles, and robotic naval platforms.
We back startups mainly from idea to seed-stage, with a particular emphasis on unmanned and autonomous systems: a domain we see as pivotal to the future of warfare as well as mobility, logistics, and other civil uses.
How big is your portfolio?
We have made two investments so far: NeuralAgent and Rebelvolt.
What do you think about Estonian startup scene?
I think Estonia has a vibrant startup scene, and the legislation is supportive of startups. I think the support from the government is one of the strongest among European countries, and Finland has a lot to learn from here.
Can you name drop a few promising startups to keep an eye on?
NeuralAgent: They are building a decentralized AI operating system ‘Neural Cloud’ that seamlessly connects satellites, drones, and aircraft into a self-learning, hardware-agnostic backbone for high-speed, global connectivity. They are tackling a massive, mission-critical problem with a highly technical and defensible solution, executed by an experienced and ambitious team.
- Read more about Unmanned.VC
- Read more about Modirum Group
- Become EstBAN Fund Member
