The consortium of NATO allies has approved the first group of companies that will receive financing within the framework of the NATO Innovation Fund in the amount of €1 billion euros. The fund is aimed at supporting European technology companies that are developing new solutions in the field of defense, security, and dual-use technology.
Four companies received the first investments:
- Fractile AI (UK) is a London-based computer chip maker that aims to speed up large-scale language models (LLMs), such as those powering ChatGPT.
- ARX Robotics (Germany) develops unmanned robots for various tasks, from lifting heavy objects to surveillance.
- iCOMAT (UK) produces light and strong materials for vehicles.
- Space Forge (UK) uses the conditions of space (microgravity, vacuum) to manufacture semiconductors in orbit.
As part of the announcement, NATO Innovation Fund also provided support for a group of fund managers, including:
- Alpine Space Ventures, an early-stage fund bringing over 50 years of space industry expertise to empower select startups to deliver key space-enabled capabilities.
- OTB Ventures, an early growth fund originating from Central Europe, investing in spacetech, enterprise automation & AI, cybersecurity, and fintech infrastructure.
- JOIN CAPITAL, a Berlin-based early stage venture capital focused on deep tech investments across industrial and enterprise tech.
- Vsquared Ventures, which invests in early stage deep tech companies, whose groundbreaking technologies can address some of society’s most pressing challenges across AI & next-gen software, energy transition, new computing and sensing, new space, robotics and manufacturing, and tech-bio.
About NATO Innovation fund
The alliance announced the creation of the fund in the summer of 2022, months after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, pledging to invest in technology that would strengthen its defenses.
The fund is partnering with venture capital funds Alpine Space Ventures, OTB Ventures, Join Capital and Vsquared Ventures to support deep tech investments on the continent. It is supported by 24 of NATO’s 32 member states, including Finland and Sweden, which joined the alliance earlier this year.
