What is DIANA and why did NATO create it?
DIANA, the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic, is NATO's innovation accelerator, set up to speed up the transition of new technology, often originating in commercial markets, into defence use. Traditional NATO procurement is designed for mature, already proven products and services, and it fits poorly with early-stage innovation where the potential is clear but commercial readiness is not yet there.
DIANA was created in response to concern that the alliance would fall behind in a fast-moving technology race if it relied solely on traditional defence industry suppliers. The accelerator brings together member states' test facilities and accelerator programmes, through which small and mid-size companies and startups can test their technology in real conditions and build networks with defence stakeholders.
DIANA is not a procurement organisation in the sense that NSPA or NCIA are. It does not buy finished systems through a tender competition; instead it funds and supports development and testing so that promising technology matures to a point where it can later compete for actual procurement contracts.
How does the DIANA accelerator programme work in practice?
DIANA regularly publishes challenges describing problem areas of interest to defence, such as energy resilience, sensor technology or secure data transfer. Companies apply by explaining how their technology addresses one of these challenges, and selected companies move through a multi-stage programme that includes funding, mentoring and access to test environments.
During the programme, a company gets support in aligning its business model, technical maturity and defence sector requirements. The goal is not only to validate the technology, but also to ensure the company understands how selling to the defence sector differs from the civilian market, for example in terms of requirements specifications, security classifications and procurement cycles.
By the end of the programme, a company typically has a clearer view of which NATO organisations or member states' procurement authorities it should approach next, and often a direct route to them through contacts made in the network.
What is the NATO Innovation Fund?
The NATO Innovation Fund is a venture capital fund established jointly by NATO member states, investing directly in early- and growth-stage companies whose technology is relevant to defence and security. The fund operates like a conventional venture capital investor: it takes equity stakes and seeks financial returns, but its strategic goal is to strengthen the alliance's technological edge.
The fund's investment areas include artificial intelligence, quantum technology, space technology, biotechnology and new materials, fields where civilian and defence applications are often closely intertwined. The fund makes its investment decisions independently, using ordinary investment criteria, but its underlying strategic purpose sets it apart from typical venture capital investors.
For a company, being backed by the NATO Innovation Fund can bring, alongside capital, significant credibility and a network within the defence sector, which can ease later progress toward commercial contracts with member states or NATO bodies.
What does dual-use technology mean?
Dual-use technology refers to products or solutions that have both civilian and defence applications without needing to be designed from the outset for military use. Examples include sensor technology used in drones, cyber security solutions, satellite data, energy storage and artificial intelligence-based analytics tools.
DIANA and the NATO Innovation Fund specifically target dual-use technology because it gives the alliance the fastest access to the latest innovation: companies that primarily operate in civilian markets often develop faster and more cost-effectively than traditional defence industry players, whose development cycles are long and tied to specific programmes.
For a company, this means that moving toward the defence sector does not require changing its core business, but rather extending the application of existing technology. This lowers the barrier to entry compared with having to build an entirely new product line solely for defence use.
What is DIANA's test centre network?
DIANA's operations include a broad network of member states' test facilities and centres, where companies can test their technology in realistic conditions, for example underwater environments, airspace, or cyber exercise platforms. Test centres provide access to infrastructure that would be practically impossible for an individual company, especially a startup, to build on its own.
Test results are valuable not only for product development, but also because they produce credible evidence that the technology performs against defence requirements. Such evidence is often decisive when a company later takes part in actual tenders, where the procuring authority assesses technical maturity and proven performance.
What kind of company fits the DIANA or Innovation Fund route?
DIANA and the NATO Innovation Fund fit best for companies whose technology is still in development or early commercialisation, but which have clear potential to solve a problem relevant to defence. Pursuing these routes requires a company to be able to articulate the relevance of its technology in a defence context, even if its primary market is civilian.
- startups and growth companies with proven technology but still limited commercial track record
- companies whose core technology applies across multiple use cases, such as sensors, artificial intelligence, materials or energy
- companies seeking a test environment or reference before a larger commercial contract
- companies that need capital for growth and value a strategic investor familiar with the defence sector
How do DIANA and the Innovation Fund differ from ordinary NATO procurement?
Ordinary NATO procurement, run for example by NSPA or NCIA, is based on defined needs, competitive tenders and contracts in which the supplier must deliver a finished, tested and often already in-production solution on an agreed schedule. These competitions emphasise references, delivery reliability and often security clearances.
DIANA and the Innovation Fund, by contrast, operate before this stage. They do not require a finished product or an extensive track record; instead they focus on maturing and validating technology. This is not a matter of alternative routes to the same outcome, but of sequential stages: the innovation route helps a company reach a point where it can credibly take part in actual tendering.
Understanding this difference matters, because companies sometimes assume that getting into a DIANA programme would lead directly to a procurement contract. It does not: the programme opens a door and builds credibility, but actual commercialisation still happens through ordinary procurement procedures.
How can a company combine innovation funding with commercial tendering?
The most effective strategy is to view DIANA, the NATO Innovation Fund and traditional tendering as one continuum. A company can use the accelerator programme and test centres to mature its technology and gather evidence, seek growth funding from the Innovation Fund, and use the credibility and network built through both as a springboard when it later responds to tenders published by NSPA, NCIA or member states.
In practice this means a company should, already during the innovation phase, monitor the kinds of needs the alliance and member states publish through their ordinary procurement channels, so that development work targets areas with genuine demand. At the same time, it makes sense to build the necessary readiness, such as required registrations and any security clearances, in parallel with the innovation programme, so the move into actual tendering is not needlessly delayed.
Companies that treat these routes as complementary rather than competing typically reach actual contracts faster than those that wait for the innovation programme to end before even exploring the commercial side.
What are the most common mistakes when pursuing innovation routes?
The most common mistake is assuming that getting into DIANA or the Innovation Fund is, by itself, enough to open the door to the NATO market. In reality, these routes build the foundation, but the company must actively track and pursue the next steps, such as tenders or member states' national procurements.
Another common mistake is applying to these programmes with too generic a description of the technology, without a clear link to a specific challenge relevant to defence. A third mistake is leaving commercial preparation, such as registrations and mapping security requirements, until later, when it would pay to start already during the innovation programme.
How does Salpa help with DIANA and NATO innovation funding?
Salpa continuously monitors NATO procurement portals, including those of NSPA, NCIA, ACT and ACO, so that a company sees directly when a tender opens in its technology area, one that a DIANA or Innovation Fund-backed development effort can feed into. The service uses artificial intelligence to summarise notices in the company's own language and sends an alert whenever a notice matches its chosen categories.
This means a company is not left waiting for chance once an innovation programme has prepared it to take part in actual tenders; instead it learns about relevant opportunities as soon as they are published. Salpa can be tried free for 14 days with no commitment.