• Strong science base: Demokritos is one of Europe’s leading research centres, with multiple institutes in biosciences, informatics, materials science, and more - giving innovators access to deep technical expertise and laboratories
• Strategic position: Situated in Athens, the Accelerator connects innovators to Greece’s growing high-tech sector and to international partners through the NATO Alliance. It also helps counter brain-drain by attracting and retaining deep tech talent.
• Dual-use emphasis: We bridge civilian and defence use cases, helping startups develop technologies that meet real-world operational needs.
• National support: we work closely with national innovation ecosystem, such as the General Secretariat for Research & Innovation (GSRI) and the Hellenic Centre for Defence Innovation (HCDI) to help innovators access public R&D programmes, defence end-users, and European funding opportunities, while connecting them to NATO’s wider innovation network.
Can you share an example of a company that you supported?
A strong example from the DIANA network is Kelluu, a Finnish deep-tech company building autonomous, hydrogen-powered airships.
Their platforms can stay airborne for more than 12 hours, carry modular sensor payloads, and operate quietly and efficiently below cloud cover – offering a persistent surveillance and monitoring capability that complements both satellites and drones.
Kelluu was selected from over 2,600 applicants to join the NATO DIANA Accelerator Programme, and advanced to Phase 2, where it received non-dilutive funding, access to NATO test centres, and opportunities to take part in large-scale NATO exercises such as REPMUS25 (Portugal) and DiBax (Latvia).
Through DIANA, Kelluu engaged directly with defence end-users and investors, compressing the innovation-to-adoption timeline from years down to months.
At Innovation Accelerator@Demokritos, Kelluu received tailored mentorship, access to research expertise, and connections within the Greek and NATO innovation ecosystem – support that helped the company refine its technology and accelerate its path toward real-world deployment.
What is your biggest success so far within the DIANA programme?
Since Innovation Accelerator@Demokritos was recently activated under DIANA, its biggest achievement so far is establishing the infrastructure and ecosystem to host deep tech startups – integrating with NATO DIANA’s framework, and beginning to onboard innovators, providing lab access, mentorship, training, and dual-use technology support.
Our growing achievements include:
• Attracting and supporting start-ups that can address both defence and civilian challenges, raising the technical level and commercial readiness of Greek deep tech innovation.
• Connecting Greek innovation with NATO and international security & defence markets.
• Creating a vibrant environment that attracts top research and engineering talent to Greece’s innovation ecosystem.
How does your site help connect people to your broader networks?
• Through NATO DIANA: access to 180+ test centres across the Alliance for experimentation, validation, and field-testing.
• Through national institutions: Links with the Greek innovation ecosystem, VCs and other funding tools for R&D and dual-use innovation.
• Through Demokritos research network: linking startups to researchers, labs, and expertise.
• Through mentorship and industry networks: Introductions to investors, end-users, and technical experts.
• Through international exposure: Participation in events, workshops, and challenges that connect innovators to Allied defence and commercial markets.