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The NATO Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic, dubbed DIANA, has called for start-ups to submit innovative proposals to advance an array of dual-use technologies.
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The first priorities of the accelerator are to support the development of dual-use technologies across energy resilience, sensing and surveillance, and secure information sharing.
Expecting to work with some 30 start-ups over the next year, DIANA hopes to connect up and coming innovators with government, industry, and academia to further develop their disruptive ideas.
The participants will be awarded a grant of €100,000, with an opportunity to be awarded up to €300,000 later in the program.
“This is a big moment for DIANA and for NATO”, Professor Deeph Chana, DIANA’s managing director, said.
“Identifying, developing, and deploying dual-use technologies are going to be crucial as we tackle the many challenges we face. Participants in DIANA’s unique program will get significant early-stage funding, commercial advice, and the opportunity to test their ideas at some of the world’s leading facilities.”
Participants will have the opportunity to leverage up to 100 innovation sites across NATO member nations. Regional hubs are currently located in Canada and the United Kingdom, with a hub planned in Estonia.
According to NATO, DIANA will be run alongside the NATO Innovation Fund, a venture capital fund that the alliance announced would invest an estimated €1 billion into supporting the development of defence technology.
In March, Deputy Secretary General of NATO Mircea Geoană and the United Kingdom’s Minister for Defence Procurement Alex Chalk opened the first regional office operating outside of the Imperial College London Innovation Hub.
“I am delighted that Imperial College’s White City Campus will host the first of DIANA’s regional offices,” Geoană said at the opening ceremony.
“Imperial’s Innovation Hub already co-locates major defence contractors, innovators, and researchers alongside UK and US government defence innovation accelerators, making it the ideal place to start this exciting new initiative.”
DIANA was originally launched in 2021 to cover areas of innovation including artificial intelligence, space, data, biotechnology, quantum technologies, hypersonics, and energy.
Dr Deeph Chana was named managing director of DIANA in May 2023.
