NATO DIANA

Recently, DIANA’s Chief Operating Officer Jyoti Hirani-Driver spoke on the importance of investing in dual-use technology as part of the Resilience Conference in London, an event driving engagement in defence, security, and resilience by the start-up and investor community. The panel explored the definition of dual-use, how the relationship between industry partners, governments, investors and start-ups could be strengthened, and how DIANA is working to increase opportunities to bring these sectors together. Thank you to the organisers, fellow panellists and attendees for the fascinating discussions around defence, security and resilience.

Today was another exciting milestone for DIANA, as we were in Halifax to open the North American Headquarters. As Managing Director Deeph Chana PhD Chana said, “Tapping into the North American research and innovation capacity, as well as the commercial and defence markets across the continent. Halifax will play a vital role in strengthening connections and ensuring that this is truly a pan-Alliance innovation endeavour.” DIANA and the Government of Canada also announced the appointment of Major General Paul Peyton as DIANA's Military Deputy Director, North America. He will be instrumental in strengthening pathways between innovative technologies and defence applications in North America, and throughout the Alliance. Alongside London and Tallinn, Halifax will become a key collaboration centre for DIANA. COVE is joining DIANA’s accelerator network to deliver acceleration programming for our incoming innovators. COVE will work with new DIANA innovators beginning in January 2025. Thank you to Minister Sean Fraser, Parliamentary Secretary Marie-France Lalonde, Melanie Nadeau, P.Eng. ICD.D., Phantom Photonics, Viki Lamaye, and DIANA's Canadian board member Philippe Hébert for your participation today. We look forward to growing the North American DIANA presence.

Learn more below!

This exciting update is a significant milestone from one of our first cohort companies, Ephos! We're so pleased for you, and looking forward to continuing to work with you through Phase 2 of our programme.

👏An exciting announcement from our partners at the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF), with their first investment into a DIANA cohort company. Congratulations to Aquark Technologies!

Yesterday DIANA hosted a networking event in London to explore innovation investments, and how DIANA could help to develop a trusted capital network for our dual-use start-ups. Building on similar networking and exploratory discussions in California and Washington D.C., the networking session brought together leaders from VCs, private equity and other funds, as well as partners such as the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF). Participants discussed challenges and opportunities for investing in dual-use companies, how to navigate the line between defence and commercial investing, and the importance of private capital united with public sector programming to improve scalability and de-risk investments in emerging technologies. In the morning session, Christopher Steed, CIO of Paladin Capital Group, described the need to "crowd investments into technologies that can be developed responsibly" and celebrated the potential for "a trusted spider web of investor networks" for responsible technology development. Panellists emphasised that building a strong, resilient and well-capitalised ecosystem requires private sector funds in addition to public sector support. The afternoon workshops explored how a group of likeminded investors—an “Allied Capital Community”—might work, and provided insights into what investors are looking for when they consider investing in dual-use technologies. One attendee said “This shows the power of organisations like DIANA. Bringing these leaders into the room and providing a venue to shape concepts at early stages—this is what community is all about.” We look forward to keeping the conversation going, and continuing to explore new and different ways to support security, defence and resilience throughout the Alliance. Deeph Chana PhD Adrian Dan Tom Dallas McSorley Heather Desserud Ioan Istrate

Our Chief Counsel, Rapid Adoption Service Maciej Macenowicz, PhD was in Portugal this week speaking on collaboration and innovation to face future challenges. We're pleased to work closely with our colleagues across NATO, industry partners, end users and innovation communities throughout the Alliance to build a resilient and secure global future.

Today, DIANA is excited to announce ten companies will move into Phase II of our acceleration programme, receiving additional funding and guidance to boost their commercial and defence adoption success. The ten innovators were part of DIANA's first cohort of 44 companies, which tackled complex defence, security and resilience challenges during an intensive six-month programme earlier this year. 👏Congratulations👏 to: Aquark Technologies Astrolight Dolphin Labs Ocean Ephos Goldilock IONATE Lobster Robotics Phantom Photonics REVOBEAM SECQAI Read the press release below to learn more, and stay tuned for spotlights on each company in the coming weeks.

How does DIANA differ from other research and innovation models, such as centres of excellence? Why might a nation choose to support DIANA? As Finland's Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen describes in the following column, DIANA is working to strengthen ties between societal need, innovation and adoption of dual-use technologies. An ecosystem requires many different functioning parts: DIANA works closely with centres of excellence, as well as accelerators and test centres in support of a vibrant, resilient and deeply creative innovation ecosystem across 32 nations. Read the column from Puolustusministeriö - Försvarsministeriet - Ministry of Defence of Finland at the link below (Finnish, with translation options).

Do you know what it takes to move from a great idea to a commercial success? Join the DIANA team as Chief Commercial Officer, an exciting leadership role in London overseeing commercial and adoption efforts across DIANA. Click the link for more details. https://lnkd.in/eVWWQXhT