The Centre for Defence Enterprise (CDE) aims to enable innovative, high-risk research to develop cost-effective military capabilities through partnerships between the UK Ministry of Defence and industry. Over five and a half years, CDE received nearly 5,000 proposals, funded over 800 of them with £48 million, and 45% of funded proposals involved small and medium enterprises. CDE operates through an open competition model and networking events to engage innovators from academia, small businesses, and wider industry in developing technologies for military advantage.