Secretary general Jens Stoltenberg and Nato member ministers and leaders on 30 June established the €1bn fund at the end of a summit that began on Tuesday in Madrid.
“This fund is unique,” said Stoltenberg in a statement. “With a 15-year timeframe, the Nato Innovation Fund will help bring to life those nascent technologies that have the power to transform our security in the decades to come, strengthening the alliance’s innovation ecosystem and bolstering the security of our one billion citizens.”
The Fund will invest €1bn in early-stage startups and other venture capital funds developing dual-use emerging technologies of priority to Nato, such as artificial intelligence, big-data processing, quantum-enabled technologies, autonomy, biotechnology and human enhancement, novel materials, energy, propulsion and space.
The Luxembourg government in a statement on Thursday said the fund will be domiciled in the grand duchy. “Our commitment will be twofold: we will host the fund as a domicile and also contribute to joint investments,” said prime minister Xavier Bettel (DP).
The government together with Luxinnovation and the National Research Fund in June launched a programme to support research and development with in the field of defence with up to €3m.
“We must absolutely preserve our technological advantage because it will be critical both for our security and for our economic development in the future,” said Bettel about the Nato fund.
The premier did not reveal how much money Luxembourg would contribute to the fund. Defence minister François Bausch (déi Gréng) last week announced plans to increase spending on the military to nearly €1bn by 2028.
Nato members in 2014 had pledged to move towards spending 2% of their GDP on defence, but Luxembourg currently falls short of this goal at around 0.6%. Under the plans--which will see the grand duchy set up a joint battalion with Belgium and invest in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, air transport, space and cybersecurity--spending will go up to 1% by 2018.