NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) launched its first call for proposals to solve critical defence and security challenges. DIANA brings together governments, industry and academia to work with start-ups and other innovators to help their ideas and businesses succeed. This year, DIANA will offer support to develop dual-use technologies to solve problems in three areas: energy resilience, sensing and surveillance, and secure information sharing.
Don’t miss your chance to apply until 25 August!
How will it work?
Innovators who are accepted into the challenges will receive grant funding to support their technology development and demonstration, participate in a customised commercial and defence-focused accelerator programme, gain access to test and evaluation resources across the Alliance, and benefit from curated exposure to investors and end users to support technology transition and adoption.
The call for proposals to the DIANA challenges will be open for two months, from 19 June until 25 August. 30 start-ups should be selected to receive non-dilutive grants of EUR 100,000 and will be accepted into Phase One of the DIANA accelerator programme called ‘Boot-camp’. Participants will join a cohort of innovators from across the Alliance at one of five regional accelerator sites for a custom-built defence and security and dual-use accelerator programme that will last for 6 months.
At the end of Phase One, a smaller number of companies will be offered an additional grant of up to EUR 300,000 and invited to participate in Phase Two of the accelerator programme called ‘Scale’. During this second 6 months, companies will focus on demonstrating their technological solution, developing transition strategies, and working with investors and end users to identify pathways to adoption.
What will you gain from it?
Companies accepted into the DIANA accelerator programme gain access to:
- grants to support technology development and demonstration, and participation in the DIANA accelerator programme.
- 10+ accelerators across the Alliance, with more planned over the coming years
- 90+ test centres (with more planned) across the Alliance where entrepreneurs can de-risk, and demonstrate and validate their proposed dual-use technological solutions
- mentoring from scientists, engineers, industry partners, end users, and government procurement experts
- an investor network for trusted third-party funding
- opportunities to demonstrate technology in operational environments
- pathways to market within the NATO enterprise and 31 Allied markets
Open Challenge Topics
- Energy Resilience: For this challenge, DIANA is seeking technology solutions that enable the modular design of microgrids that can meet supply demands reliably. Of interest are technologies and systems that are capable of scaling and that are interoperable with other similar systems; renewable power generation; power storage; hardware and software for adaptive and intelligent power conditioning and management; and technologies for the detection and protection of the physical system and components from malicious cyber-attack.
- Secure Information Sharing: For this challenge, DIANA is looking for ways of creating a secure and trusted information environment – with the emphasis on live data streams such as those used to provide near real-time video, augmented reality feeds, digital radio and more. Of particular interest are hardware and software solutions that operate over open networks and that can function in ‘austere’ or ‘disadvantaged’ environments.
- Sensing and Surveillance: For this challenge, DIANA is seeking components and systems for sensing and information gathering in subsurface coastal zones. Applications of interest might include, but are not limited to, novel techniques and/or advanced capabilities for seafloor mapping, undersea infrastructure monitoring, manmade object and marine-life tracking, climate-change-effects sensing, and patterns-of-life visualisations.
Who can apply?
DIANA has few basic eligibility criteria that can be read in more detail at their website. Still, any incorporated company headquartered in a NATO member nation is eligible to participate in a DIANA challenge.
Useful details
- Application deadline: 25 August 2023
- Access here to register your interest
- Access here to apply to the challenges
- Visit this page and submit your inquiries about the open call
About DIANA
Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) leverages its acceleration programme and test centre network to bring start-ups together with operational end users, scientists, and systems integrators to advance compelling deep tech with dual-use solutions for the NATO Alliance.
DISCLAIMER: This information is provided in the interest of knowledge sharing and should not be interpreted as the official view of the European Commission, or any other organisation.