Following an evening reception and panel discussion Tuesday evening, the event opened Wednesday with remarks from Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Innovation, Hybrid, and Cyber, James Appathurai, who shared NATO’s commitment to innovation as well as the role innovation plays in protecting the one billion citizens who live under the Alliance. Whether preparing for natural disasters, monitoring and responding to undersea infrastructure damage, or defending against hostile action, ensuring that warfighters and peacetime operators alike are well equipped will save lives.
Over the last six months, DIANA helped companies in the programme develop and grow by giving them access to world-class accelerator sites and testing facilities. The programme also allowed them to supercharge their growth through networking with investors, industry partners and defence and military end users.
Their hard work and accomplishments were on full display at Demo Day, where the companies brought their technologies to life in front of investors and potential users, and demonstrated how far they have come in the last few months — and how ready they are for deployment and adoption at scale.
Jean Charles Ellermann-Kingombe, Assistant Secretary General for Innovation, Hybrid and Cyber, joined the demos, learning more about the technologies coming through DIANA’s pipeline ready for rapid adoption by the NATO Alliance.
DIANA innovator delivering a pitch.
Solutions with real-world impact
Innovators demonstrated their ground-breaking technologies in five main themes: Sensing and Surveillance; Data and Information; Human Health and Performance; Critical Infrastructure and Logistics; and Energy and Power.
New dual-use technological developments showcased at the event included solutions like Blue Armada’s — a Polish company pioneering scalable marine autonomy thanks to their fleet of hybrid-electric powertrains, which enables operations at sea for long periods without refuelling. Meanwhile, 52North, based in the UK, is a med-tech company developing cutting edge technologies to reshape urgent care pathways, and Terecircuits, based in the US, is addressing global semiconductor vulnerabilities with breakthrough packaging and assembly technologies.
Partnerships and collaboration
Throughout the day of demos and structured and informal networking, innovators met one-on-one with venture capital firms, government representatives, military and defence stakeholders, and representatives from across the Alliance.
“The exposure we get here is better than anything we could have done on our own, or even through some of the accelerator programmes we’ve seen before,” said one innovator.
“It’s rewarding to see these companies build their networks this quickly,” said a government representative. “We can help them navigate the complexities of government, but now they’re also coming equipped with the knowledge and tools to be successful.”
DIANA innovator delivering a pitch.
The importance of adopting the latest technologies
As technology cycles accelerate, they move faster than ever
before. And as threats to our collective security and resilience evolve, DIANA
is helping ensure that the Alliance is harnessing emerging and disruptive
dual-use deep technologies.
Many of the companies that were present at the Demo Days are
already on the path to adoption and commercial success, having raise funds and
started partnerships with key industry players and government bodies.
Together, these innovators are starting to form and
strengthen a robust ecosystem of dual-use technologies with far-reaching
impact.
“This event is the culmination of months of hard work by the
innovators, as well as by our accelerators and the DIANA team,” said Kadri
Tammai, Regional Director (Estonia) and Head of the Accelerator Programme. “We
are very proud of the successes our companies have already experienced by
clearly demonstrating how the technologies that they are building are serving
the needs of the Alliance. Those companies are now part of our wider ecosystem
and we look forward to supporting their scaling and adoption ambitions and
making sure the nations are able to benefit from those solutions already, now
and also in the longer run.”
Looking ahead: Challenge Call for DIANA’s 2026 Cohort
As part of the 2025 cohort moves on to Phase 2 of the DIANA Accelerator Programme and continue to work with industry and government bodies to adopt these technologies through our Rapid Adoption Service, we are also looking ahead to the next programme cycle on the horizon.
DIANA’s latest Challenge Call is live and closes on 11 July, and we are looking for forward-thinking innovators to join us in shaping innovative solutions that can make the world a better and safer place.
Submit your proposal now: https://proposals.diana.tech/