It represents a doubling of the accelerator’s capacity within just one year. 

The NATO Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) has downselected 150 companies from 3,680 applicants to become part of its 2026 innovation cohort – double compared with 2025. 

Each year DIANA releases specific challenge statements, with companies able to bid for funding under these as part of an annual cohort. 

According to DIANA’s announcement on 10 December, companies from 24 of the 32 NATO countries have secured places. 

DIANA’s announcement also confirms earlier projections shared by the head of the organisation, James Appathurai, with DSEI Gateway in September, who had indicated that the intake size would more than double from 73 in 2025. 

Funding for this 2026 cohort will become available to all those selected, across the 10 challenge areas identified by DIANA as priorities for NATO. While not specifically mentioned in the announcement, funding for each company under phase one is typically EUR100,000.  

The challenge areas for 2026 include energy and power; advanced communications; contested electromagnetic environments; biotechnology; critical infrastructure and logistics; operations in extreme environments; maritime; resilience in space; autonomy and uncrewed systems; and data-based decision-making. 

A spokesperson for DIANA told DSEI Gateway that the companies will be spread equally among the 10 challenges, with 15 companies in each.  

The next step in the process involves each company being paired with one of DIANA’s 16 accelerator sites, which are spread across the alliance.  

A map of the 16 accelerator sites and the organisation’s three major offices. (NATO DIANA 2025) 

In terms of dates, the spokesperson explained that most of the companies will begin work with the accelerator sites in January. 

From there, their technologies will be honed and developed, with a view to maturing and scaling them for military use. 

Access to a range of experts from business, academia, procurement agencies, and the military will be provided to support this. Additionally, companies will be able to test their innovations at DIANA-affiliated test centres, with over 200 sites now in use across the alliance. 

The overall goal, Appathurai emphasised to DSEI Gateway in September, is to accelerate “the rate at which companies get contracts and can provide effect”, by substantially increasing the technological readiness level of participants’ technologies. 

DIANA’s mission is particularly aimed at increasing the participation of smaller companies that are not traditionally based in defence. 

This latest cohort is no different, featuring the likes of Atlas Innovative Technologies – a UK-based small business – which won funding for the advanced communications technology challenge, and US-based Victus Technologies, which provides resilient situational awareness and will support the maritime operations challenge. 

The UK (27), Canada (26), and the US (25) are particularly well represented among the 2026 intake, with nine companies from Germany, and seven from France. 

A full list of the companies joining the 2026 cohort is now available.