NATO Launches Strategic Tech Accelerator: €100,000 Grants for Dual-Use Innovation
On 2 June 2025, the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) under NATO unveiled ten challenge areas seeking foundational dual‑use deep technologies. These challenges reflect NATO’s strategic priorities encompassing energy generation and power systems, advanced communications, contested electromagnetic environments, human resilience including biotechnology, and critical infrastructure, logistics, extreme‑environment operations, maritime and space operations, autonomy, unmanned systems, and data‑assisted decision‑making. Innovators have until 12:00 UTC on 11 July 2025 to submit proposals. Selected entities will enter the first phase of DIANA's accelerator programme commencing in January 2026, becoming part of the 2026 cohort. The call aligns with DIANA’s mandate to anticipate and address future alliance defence and civilian security challenges through innovative technologies.
Participating innovators will receive €100,000 in contractual funding during Phase 1 to refine their solutions in response to challenge statements. Those innovations that pass a competitive down‑selection will advance to Phase 2, with the potential to secure an additional €300,000 for further concept validation, demonstration, and scaling toward operational readiness. Through both stages of the programme, innovators gain access to a network of more than 180 test centres across Europe and North America, enabling comprehensive testing, evaluation and validation in real‑world and simulated operational contexts (nato.int). This structured support is complemented by mentoring, investor connections, and engagement with end‑users within military and civilian agencies.
DIANA’s challenge call is informed by the emerging and disruptive technology landscape and Alliance needs. The ten areas were determined by an analysis of NATO and allied nation priorities, recent developments in emerging tech, and commercial viability and market potential. Official communiqués from NATO note that the challenge call represents a significant expansion in scope, doubling the number of challenge areas from previous cycles, and marks a “coming of age” for DIANA’s role in bridging civilian innovation and defence capability. Stakeholders view this as a strategic imperative to maintain NATO’s technological edge through deep‑tech integration in core defence domains.
Since becoming fully operational in June 2023, DIANA has grown to include over 200 accelerator sites and testing centres, governed by NATO’s Innovation Fund and supported by a board representing all member nations The 2 June 2025 challenge call continues this trajectory, reinforcing NATO’s ambition to embed innovation within defence planning and acquisition frameworks. By delivering structured funding, access to infrastructure, and mentorship, DIANA aims to accelerate commercial growth while aligning with fast-paced procurement cycles. The programme seeks to foster solutions that not only address security needs but sustain long‑term civilian and defence market adoption.
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NATO DIANA unveils 10 new challenges to accelerate dual-use technology breakthroughs