Above: The new office is collocated with NATO DIANA at the I-HUB at Imperial College in London.
Courtesy DASA

NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) aims to support the best and brightest innovators to develop dual-use technologies for a safe and secure world.

In the face of continually evolving threats across the globe and rapid technological development, DIANA will bring together universities, industry and governments to work with start-ups and other innovators to solve strategic dual-use security and defence challenges. Growing a new generation of NATO innovators, which will keep pace with this changing environment.

To maintain its technological edge, DIANA has established a transatlantic network, which currently consists of 23 accelerator sites and 182 test centres across the 32 Allied nations.

UK accelerator
The UK accelerator is led by the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) and supported by an external delivery partner, which has been funded by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The 2025 acceleration programme will be delivered from a new, high specification office at the Imperial College London, Innovation Hub (I-HUB) in the White City Innovation District, which is collocated with the NATO DIANA Regional Office.

The combination of DASA and a high-quality delivery partner will make the UK accelerator a great choice for innovators who have applied to the 2024 challenges. DASA brings its unique understanding of defence and security, and since its conception in 2016, DASA has developed the concept of ‘innovation-as-a-service’ by providing a wide range of useful services to help defence and security customers access innovative ideas, products and services more quickly and brokering relationships between end-users and industry/academia. DASA has particularly focused on reaching out widely across the UK, beyond the traditional defence and security sectors, and building new and connecting to existing networks such as Local Enterprise Partnerships.

DASA is currently in the tender process of finding an external partner to deliver business acceleration services to support both DIANA and UK defence and security innovation. This will cement the UK’s role within NATO and demonstrate the UK’s science superpower credentials.

Anita Friend, Head of the Defence and Security Accelerator said: "I am extremely proud of the work DASA does to find and fund innovation within the industrial base and academia and enabling it to contribute to building a safer more prosperous future. Specifically, I’m proud of how we support innovators in industry and academia to work with government to convert great ideas into benefits. By partnering with a high-quality accelerator provider to help us establish and deliver the UK accelerator for NATO DIANA, we are building a vibrant and mission-focused ecosystem which will support a peaceful future and strengthen DASA’s capacity and capabilities, ensuring that we remain at the forefront of supporting UK prosperity."

John Ridge, Director, Defence Innovation said: "The UK is proud to be selected as one of the 13 affiliated accelerators for the NATO DIANA 2024 challenges. Our collocation with the NATO DIANA Regional Office in White City puts the UK in a unique place to strengthen our ongoing partnership and work closely with other NATO Allies. We look forward to welcoming the best and brightest innovators in 2025 to develop cutting-edge technologies for future capabilities for our end-users and provide an edge over our adversaries."

London office
A new state-of-the-art office has been built specifically for the UK accelerator. Collocated with NATO DIANA at the I-HUB at Imperial College in London, the UK accelerator’s location allows innovators to connect with the local ecosystem at White City.

This brand new office space will create a positive and inspiring workspace for innovators, providing them with a fresh environment to establish themselves as resilient, successful participants in the commercial and defence markets.

Innovators selected by NATO DIANA to join the 2024 challenges, will be the first to use this new dedicated office space, which includes a 36-desk open plan layout, communal areas to foster collaboration, productivity and teamwork and seven meeting spaces, designed for private conversations. Innovators will also have access to a large conference room, shared with NATO DIANA, which provides opportunities for larger groups to have face-to-face meetings.

How DIANA works
Derived from defence and security needs across the Alliance, DIANA will issue ‘challenge’ calls in specific problem areas and ask innovators to bring forward solutions.

Innovators who apply and are selected will receive non-dilutive grants and join their preferred accelerator site to begin the DIANA accelerator programme. All of the innovators selected for the DIANA programme will help to maintain NATO’s technological edge by enhancing the Allied innovation ecosystem.

DIANA’s accelerator programme
The DIANA accelerator programme is designed to equip businesses with the skills and knowledge to navigate the world of deep tech and dual-use innovation. It currently consists of a yearlong, immersive curriculum delivered in two six-month blocks.

The first six month ‘Bootcamp’ is a hands-on cohort experience consisting of ten modules custom-designed for early-stage start-ups to build innovators into viable dual-use ventures. Through a combination of seminars, workshops, and mentorship, the innovators will gain a comprehensive understanding of the dual-use landscape and learn how to successfully navigate both commercial and defence markets. Simultaneously, they will have the opportunity to refine their technologies and products through access to DIANA’s network of Test Centres, comprising over 200 world-leading technical testing facilities.

The most promising innovators from ‘Bootcamp’ will then graduate to an additional six-month ‘Grow’ programme, which provides tailored support and additional grant funding, for a smaller number of innovators.

Who can apply?
DIANA has set out some basic eligibility criteria:

• An innovator must be headquartered in a NATO member nation.
• Technology solutions are sought at maturity levels of Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4 and above, however, lower TRL solutions with potential disruptive impact will be considered.
• Early-stage start-ups or small and medium-sized enterprises with minimal experience in defence and security are likely to benefit most from the unique DIANA accelerator programme.

To find out more about the programme: www.diana.nato.int/accelerator-programme.html