NATO Innovation Fund (NIF)’s Post

🤝 Yesterday, we announced a new partnership with the European Investment Fund (EIF), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Commission to unlock dual-use investment opportunities for European businesses, and share best practices across investors, innovators and government. Over the past year, we’ve seen tremendous technological innovations emerge in the deep tech space in Europe. The ecosystem of start-ups in this space is growing, and needs support to scale and continue to innovate. Meanwhile, the appetite to invest in solutions with both defence and commercial applications is on the rise. This partnership represents a significant step towards securing Europe’s future by unlocking new avenues for private investment, and driving innovations to advance our defence, security and resilience. Read more 👇 https://lnkd.in/eaa6y5dm

Nearly one year ago, we closed on our inaugural €1 billion fund. Today, we are delighted to share our first investments in innovative technologies developed in countries across the NATO Alliance. These investments - across AI, space tech, manufacturing, transportation and robotics - mark our first steps towards advancing defence, security and resilience. We’re proud to be supporting ambitious founders, who are developing cutting-edge solutions to some of the world’s most critical challenges: 🚀 Space Forge is pushing the boundaries of manufacturing by using the conditions in space to make materials, while ensuring that supply chains for Europe’s critical infrastructure are protected. 🛫 iCOMAT is revolutionising the trillion-dollar transportation industry, from air to ground to space, making travel more energy efficient, faster and cheaper through the manufacturing of lightweight materials. 🤖 ARX Robotics is deploying robotic systems to enhance the protection and training of armed forces, and can help improve the security and efficiency of critical infrastructure. 💻 Fractile is developing fundamental computing technology that will enhance collective AI capabilities by enabling Large Language Models to run faster, more efficiently and sustainably. We’re also delighted to support a diverse group of fund managers, including: - Alpine Space Ventures, an early-stage fund bringing over 50 years of space industry expertise to empower select startups to deliver key space-enabled capabilities. - OTB Ventures, an early growth fund originating from Central Europe, investing in spacetech, enterprise automation & AI, cybersecurity, and fintech infrastructure. - JOIN CAPITAL, a Berlin-based early stage venture capital focused on deep tech investments across industrial and enterprise tech. - Vsquared Ventures, which invests in early stage deep tech companies, whose groundbreaking technologies can address some of society’s most pressing challenges across AI & next-gen software, energy transition, new computing and sensing, new space, robotics and manufacturing, and tech-bio. Being at the forefront of technological innovation is key to building a safe and prosperous future for the Alliance’s citizens. We look forward to seeing what our portfolio companies achieve, and how they will contribute to this mission. Read more 👉 https://lnkd.in/eNxe2Gix #deeptech #startups

From defence to critical infrastructure surveillance and the transportation of equipment in areas impacted by natural disaster, mass autonomous unmanned systems are critical to securing the future of the alliance's one billion citizens. To help fill this gap, today, we're honored to announce our support for ARX Robotics alongside Discovery Ventures and Project A. This is the largest seed funding round to date for a European defencetech company and will help ARX scale their cost-effective, modular ground system across Europe. Read more 👉 https://lnkd.in/e769TNqf

Our first direct investment is here. 🚀 iCOMAT's breakthrough manufacturing technology can deliver lighter, stronger and more sustainable cars, planes and spacecrafts - faster and at a lower cost. This can help both strengthen our defence capabilities and reduce emissions. It marks an important milestone in our journey to advance defence, security and resilience for the alliance’s one billion citizens. We're proud to co-lead this round with 8VC alongside Syensqo and Velocity.Partners Venture Capital and look forward to helping build a more resilient and sustainable future together. Read more 👇 prn.to/458HbRx

We are very proud to have grown our team to over 20+ this past year, bringing expertise from across #deeptech, including AI, energy and climate, quantum, materials, space tech, and semiconductors, along with decades of operating experience across the investment landscape. Together, we support ambitious deep tech founders solving the most pressing challenges in defence, security, and resilience across the Alliance. Meet our brilliant team here - or visit our brand new website to learn more: https://lnkd.in/eSTarhyp

We are happy to share that Sweden has officially joined the #NIF! Sweden is joining 23 other nations in our €1bn flagship fund to invest in cutting edge science and technology that will strengthen the collective security and prosperity of NATO allies. We look forward to exploring opportunities from Swedish entrepreneurs and businesses that are developing deep tech solutions to challenges in defence, security and resilience. Get in touch if you'd like to find out more. https://lnkd.in/eKPSiDc3

We are looking for a Head of Communications and Public Relations - a natural storyteller to elevate our mission and portfolio companies globally. Apply here: https://bit.ly/3RIeMwi Happy holidays from the NIF team 🎄