On 2nd June 2025, NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) unveiled an ambitious set of ten new technology challenges, marking a major expansion of its mission to identify and fast track dual use deep tech across the Alliance. Running until 12:00 UTC on 11th July 2025, this competition offers €100,000 in funding and access to a six month accelerator starting January 2026, with top performers eligible for up to an additional €300,000 in the next programme phase.
What is DIANA?
Established in June 2021 and operational since June 2023, DIANA is NATO’s first innovation accelerator body dedicated to dual use deep technologies, solutions that bridge civilian and military applications. Operating out of regional locations in London, Tallinn, and Halifax, it harnesses a continent wide network of 200+ accelerator sites and test facilities across Europe and North America.
Managed by Professor Deeph Chana, DIANA runs a competitive, multi phase model: public challenge calls → rapid non dilutive grants → a structured Phase 1 accelerator → rigorous down select to Phase 2 → real world testing, adaptation, and adoption by NATO and member states.
It also feeds promising technologies into the €1 billion NATO Innovation Fund, launched in June 2022 to scale dual use deep tech innovation.
The 2025 Challenges
The ten focus areas reflect NATO’s evolving defence and resilience needs:
1. Energy & Power
2. Advanced Communication Technologies
3. Contested Electromagnetic Environments
4. Human Resilience & Biotechnologies
5. Critical Infrastructure & Logistics
6. Operations in Extreme Environments
7. Maritime Operations
8. Resilient Space Operations
9. Autonomy & Unmanned Systems
10. Data Assisted Decision Making
Each challenge invites innovators to address pressing capability gaps, ranging from AI enabled decision tools to resilient comms systems and advanced biotech for personnel.
Support and Selection Process
• Phase 1: €100,000 in contractual funding, six month accelerator, access to test centres, mentor network, and industry end user engagement.
• Phase 2 (down selected): Additional funding, deeper integration, field testing, and potential procurement opportunities.
Since its pilot in 2023, DIANA has supported:
• 44 startups across three challenges (energy resilience, sensing & surveillance, secure information sharing), selected from 1,300+ proposals.
• Over 70 companies awarded for the 2025 accelerator, spread across 20 NATO countries, covering similar deep tech domains.
Past participants include innovators in quantum cryptography, secure messaging, and cyber resilience, such as Hushmesh, Goldilock, and LevelQuantum, which received €100,000 and access to NATO test labs.
Spotlight: The Arctic Innovation Mobilisation
In May 2025, DIANA ran a focused Arctic Innovation Mobilisation (AIM) competition in collaboration with Norway, targeting solutions for extreme cold and remote conditions. Five winners, including US, Norwegian, and Canadian firms, received up to €50,000 each for innovations spanning PNT resilience, power systems, UAS charging, and avalanche safety. The initiative emphasises DIANA’s agility in responding to regional and environmental security demands.
Why It Matters
DIANA represents a significant shift in NATO’s approach:
• Breaking the ‘washing machine’ procurement model by focusing on effect based challenges, not preconceived solutions.
• Accelerating impact: swift funding, end user feedback loops, and streamlined adoption pathways.
• Embracing dual use innovation, bridging civilian technology with military needs.
• Leveraging collective scale: regionally rich, multi national, resourced innovation hubs.
These new 2025 challenges reveal NATO’s readiness to tackle next generation threats, whether cyber electromagnetic, space based, environmental, or biologically oriented, through tech-powered resilience.
How to Participate
• Innovators (startups, SMEs, researchers) have until 12:00 UTC, 11th July 2025 to apply via the DIANA website.
• Proposals must clearly address one of the ten challenge areas with strong evidence of novelty, feasibility, dual use potential, and defence alignment.
• No equity is taken; grant-based support ensures innovators retain ownership.
What to Watch For
• Announcement of the 2026 cohort, expected early 2026.
• Success stories from Phase 1 projects that transition to practical adoption.
• NATO’s Innovation Fund investments in standout DIANA participants.
• Continued regional initiatives like AIM, reflecting NATO’s flexibility.
Interested in learning more or applying? Contact RedKnight today.
