NATO has selected 44 startups from NATO member countries to go through its DIANA (short for Defense Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic) program, Sifted reports. 30 of the startups are European and 7 are from the CEE region.
The first cohort is focused on energy resilience, sensing and surveillance, and secure information sharing. Here are the CEE startups selected for the first program:
- Dronetag — Czech Republic. Based in Prague, Dronetag develops a solution for drone traffic management in the European airspace.
- Neuromorphica — Bulgaria.
- Vistareader — Lithuania.
- Revobeam — Poland.
- GIM Robotics — Finland. Founded in 2014, GIM Robotics builds intelligent robots — which can operate in an unknown environment and learn from them — for use in industry.
- Astrolight — Lithuania. Astrolight develops secure laser communication systems for aerospace and defence companies.
- Galtec — Estonia. The Tartu-based startup creates fuel cells with very high power density which are able to power drones, off-grid equipment, IoT and portable devices, and space equipment.
About DIANA
DIANA is a €50 million yearly acceleration program aimed at boosting defense and dual-use innovation across Going through the program, the startups will get mentorship, commercial, technical and business support and the possibility to test their solutions in specially designed NATO test centers.
The startups will receive a grant of €100,000, with a possible €300,000 top-up. The program start off next year. The selected startups will participate in an intensive six-month acceleration, while the most successful companies will be invited to stay on for a further six months.
DIANA has complementary €1 billion NATO Innovation Fund focused on the dual-use deep tech sector. AIN.Capital reported on the fund’s launch in August 2023.
