NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) has announced its first pilot activities and call for proposals from incorporated companies headquartered in a NATO member nation.
DIANA works directly with leading innovators, from early-stage start-ups to more mature companies, to seek commercially-focused technological breakthroughs that can solve defense and security challenges. Technological areas of interest to the DIANA challenges include (but are not limited to):
DIANA is running three pilot challenges in 2023: energy resilience, secure information sharing, and sensing and surveillance. The call for proposals will remain open for two months. By 2025, DIANA intends run up to ten challenges per year.
DIANA will implement its first challenges in cooperation with the following accelerator sites: Tehnopol in Tallinn, Estonia; BioInnovation Institute (BII) in Copenhagen, Denmark; the Pacific Northwest Mission Acceleration Center (PN MAC) in Seattle, United States; MassChallenge in Boston, United States; and Takeoff DIANA Accelerator in Turin, Italy.
Any incorporated company headquartered in a NATO member nation is eligible to participate, and DIANA will accept proposals from all companies meeting that basic eligibility requirement. It is anticipated, however, that early-stage start-ups or small and medium-sized enterprises with limited experience in defense and security will benefit most.
Funding will be provided to awardees as grant, with each selected company receiving EUR 100,000, for the first six months of the program. Following a competitive down-selection, participants may receive up to EUR 300,000 for an additional six months.
Learn more in the NATO news release: NATO’s innovation accelerator becomes operational and launches first challenges
Apply for DIANA’s challenge call: https://diana.nato.int/