NATO Venture Fund

History

2022: NATO sets up $1 billion venture capital fund to invest in tech startups

On June 30, 2022, NATO leaders signed a document pledging to ensure the work of an innovation fund aimed at combining the efforts of governments, the private sector and academia to strengthen the technological superiority of the alliance. The fund will invest in private companies working on a range of dual-use technologies with great military potential.

Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the fund provides for initial investments of $1 billion in new projects and other technology funds in 22 NATO member countries. Stoltenberg added that the goal of the fund is to develop promising technologies in the next 50 years to strengthen the security of the alliance.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

The statement released at the end of May 2022 by the leaders of the countries of the NATO military-political bloc noted that the organization is drawing up a plan to accelerate the introduction of defense innovations and is launching a multinational innovation fund to unite the efforts of governments, the private sector and academia to strengthen technological superiority.

The fund is intended for long-term investments in startups and other organizations developing new technologies in which the alliance is interested, including artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, big data processing, quantum technology, biotechnology and human enhancement, new materials, power, propulsion and space.

{{quote 'The NATO Innovation Fund, which runs until 2037, will help bring to life the emerging technologies that can transform our security in the coming decades, strengthen the Alliance's innovation ecosystem, and strengthen the security of a billion of our citizens. Together with a new accelerator of defense innovation for the North Atlantic, the fund will help the alliance use the best new technologies to ensure transatlantic security, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. }} During the summit, NATO also presented a new strategic concept, which emphasizes the need to introduce new technologies to increase the alliance's defense capability. The United States will also facilitate this initiative by facilitating access to U.S. test facilities and other accelerator technology sites in the vast and diverse U.S. innovation sector, the White House said in a release.^[1]

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