Spacetech, data, intelligent materials, biotechnology, quantum technology--these are just five areas in which Luxembourg startups might be well-placed to contribute to Nato’s defence and protection activities. It makes sense that Luxembourg is joining the North Atlantic Defence Innovation Accelerator, aka “Diana,” given that the country “needs” to spend more to meet its defence budget commitments.
Technoport has been tasked with the job of running Diana within Luxembourg’s borders, with the support of the House of Cybersecurity, the Luxembourg Space Agency, the Space Campus, the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (List) and the Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SNT) at the University of Luxembourg. The country joins 23 accelerators and 182 test centres among the 32 members of the transatlantic alliance.
“In the future, our economic development and our collective defence and common security will depend, to a large extent, on the innovation we foster today,” commented defence minister (DP) in a Luxinnovation statement. “Civil and military players in the spheres of industry and research must join forces to keep the competitive edge. That is why the Directorate of Defence invests in defence and dual-use research.”
“We are delighted that the national ecosystem is strengthening its links with Nato,” she continued. “Luxembourg has a lot of expertise to share and we will do our part in maintaining the Alliance’s technological edge. Exchanges within Diana will also enrich our innovators and strengthen transatlantic cooperation. And let us not forget the crucial synergies between Diana and the Luxembourg domiciled Nato Innovation Fund.”
“In the current context, it is crucial to link all initiatives to maximise synergies and ensure that all our efforts complement each other,” added , CEO of Luxinnovation, in the same statement. “The European Union, Nato and national players must work together.”
At the end of Diana’s first challenge programme at the end of 2023, which consisted of a call for proposals targeting three strategic areas--energy resilience, secure information sharing, and detection and surveillance--44 companies received a cheque for €100,000 to demonstrate the relevance of their technology. They will receive a further €300,000 after the first six months if they can demonstrate their technological solution in greater depth, develop transition strategies and work with investors and end-users to identify adoption routes.
Diana will launch new competitions regularly, the idea being to find eligible candidates for funding from the Nato Innovation Fund, a €1bn venture capital fund by a group of Nato member countries at the Madrid Summit in 2022.
The first multi-sovereign venture capital fund in the world, the Nato Innovation Fund will invest €1bn over 15 years in startups developing or adapting technologies to address defence and security issues. The fund’s resources will be invested primarily in companies that have benefited from the Diana acceleration programme and are headquartered in one of the 23 countries currently contributing to the fund: Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
This article in Paperjam. It has been translated and edited for Delano.