About

Vegvisir team combines experience from military operations, the defence industry and various startups.

Defensphere OÜ was founded in January 2021 by eight founders from Estonia and Croatia who were all experienced professionals and experts in the military, defence industry, government, FPV drone business, military camera business, engineering, international business development in the startup world.

The original idea of the Vegvisir system was developed by our founders with military backgrounds who had been stuck themselves in armoured vehicles in the middle of the battles in Afghanistan and other military deployments. Back then they heavily missed technical tools that would help them out in their problem.

Eight founders then decided to develop the Vegvisir system by combining the military requirements with the technical expertise from the ultra low latency based FPV drone business.

Meet the Team

Ingvar Pärnamäe

CEO & Co-Founder

I’ve served as the Undersecretary for Defence Investments at the Estonian Ministry of Defence, led as the National Armaments Director, headed the Estonian National Security Authority, and was also the CEO of the Estonian Defence and Aerospace Industry Association.

Kaido Petter

COO & Co-Founder

With over 20 years of experience in driving growth, strategic partnerships, and innovation in defence tech, software, and e-services, I bring a hands-on, grounded approach to business development and leadership. Passionate about operational excellence and practical solutions, I focus on building strong teams and meaningful relationships that create lasting value.

Raido Saremat

CPO & Co-Founder

After 15 years in the Estonian Defence Forces and three deployments to the Middle East and Africa, I thought I'd seen it all — then I joined the dark side! Now, with six years in the defense industry, from Milrem Robotics to NATO Science and Technology Organization projects, I'm on a mission at Vegvisir to share my battlefield experience and bring the future of defence tech to life (minus the camo face paint).

Ana Petrinec

CTO

I am a physicist with over 5 years of experience in R&D, engineering and technical management. My passion is leveraging science to drive the development of cutting-edge tech. I am building a team of creative and analytical minds who are ready to tackle the exciting technical challenges ahead. For us impossible is simply a challenge — just watch us do it!‍

Siim ‘Shorty’ Saliste

VP of BD & Strategy

With almost three decades of service and multiple deployments, I focused on making fighters better, smarter, and faster. As the first-ever Sergeant Major of the Estonian Defence Forces and later Command Senior Enlisted Leader of NATO Allied Command Operations, I now continue this mission at Vegvisir, enhancing warfighter performance through tech. PS: ‘Shorty’ is ironic. Soldier On!

Karl Kaju

CMO

With 9 years of startup experience building and scaling companies in commerce and tech, I’m now channeling this energy into advancing Europe’s defense industry.