How to Get into NATO DIANA: Eligibility, Funding, Deadlines (2027 Challenges)

To apply to NATO DIANA, a company whose principal place of business is in a NATO member country, and which is controlled and majority owned by nationals of NATO countries, submits a proposal to one of DIANA's public challenges through its online Challenge Portal. The annual call for the 2027 challenges ran from 1 June to 3 July 2026 and is now closed. Selected companies receive €100,000 each and start a six-month accelerator in January 2027. As of 22 October 2026, DIANA had not announced who made the 2027 cohort.

Below: who is eligible, how selection works, the 2027 challenge areas and dates, what the programme pays, where it runs, and what a company gives up (very little) in return.

What NATO DIANA is

DIANA, the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic, is NATO's accelerator for dual-use technology, headquartered in London with a regional hub in Tallinn and a North American office in Halifax. Its staff are NATO employees, and it pays non-dilutive funding, as the NATO Innovation Fund explains. The fund is a separate venture investor that takes equity; we track its deals in the NATO Innovation Fund portfolio.

The current programme is DIANA's largest. Its 2026 cohort of 150 companies from 24 NATO countries was announced on 10 December 2025, chosen from more than 3,600 proposals, according to The Defense Post. That is roughly one place for every 24 applicants (our arithmetic). The full list is in our article on the NATO DIANA 2026 cohort.

Who can apply

DIANA's FAQ (May 2026) and challenges page set the basic rules. The binding criteria are in DIANA's terms and conditions of bidding, which applicants must accept.

• Country and ownership. Any company with its principal place of business in a NATO member nation that is controlled and majority owned by nationals of NATO member nations. Applicants attest to ownership and control when they apply.
• Company type. Companies of any size meeting the criteria may apply, but DIANA says start-ups and SMEs with limited defence experience benefit most.
• Not eligible. Universities, public sector organisations and non-profit groups.
• Maturity. Solutions at technology readiness level (TRL) 4 or above for the annual challenges. Lower TRL proposals are not considered.
• Teams. Collaborative proposals are accepted if every member is eligible, with one company named as lead for contracting and reporting.

Two practical consequences. First, there is no consortium requirement, unlike the European Defence Fund, so a single startup can apply. Second, the ownership test follows the cap table: a startup headquartered in an EU country that is not in NATO, or one majority owned by investors from outside the Alliance, should read the bidding terms before writing a proposal.

How selection works

DIANA's challenges page describes a three-step competitive process:

1. Short form proposal, scored on alignment to the challenge, validity, feasibility, dual-use potential and coherence.
2. Long form proposal, scored on technical merit and novelty, defence and security relevance and impact, commercial viability and adoption approach, and general criteria such as resources, dependencies and suitability for DIANA.
3. Virtual panel session, a live pitch to a DIANA challenge manager and evaluators with technical, defence and commercial expertise.

Applicants also provide business identification details: legal name, place of registration and headquarters. Selected companies sign a framework agreement and become "DIANA Innovators".

The 2027 challenges: status and dates

DIANA launched six challenges on 1 June 2026 for its 2027 cohort, with proposals due by 12:00 BST on Friday 3 July 2026:

• Human Survivability
• Multidomain Autonomy of Uncrewed Systems
• Multidomain Sensing and Advanced Data Processing for Intelligence and Surveillance
• Operational Resilience in Contested Environments
• Responsive Logistics
• Scalable and Adaptable Countermeasures for Air Defence

The challenges page (3 September 2026 snapshot) says the call is closed and that "selected innovators will be notified of outcomes later this year" before joining the programme in January 2027. DIANA has not said how many companies it will take or how many applied. The 2026 cohort was announced on 10 December 2025, so a December announcement would fit the pattern, but that is our expectation, not a published date.

The next annual call is not yet open. DIANA refers to its "June challenges", so the call for the 2028 cohort would likely open around June 2027 if the calendar holds; again, an inference rather than an announcement.

Dynamic challenges are the other way in. DIANA now launches targeted calls for urgent needs at any point in the year. The first, Decision Superiority for NATO Warfighters, closed on 5 May 2026, sought solutions at TRL 7 or higher, and on 13 July 2026 selected ten companies with €100,000 each, working towards a demonstration by December 2026. Dynamic challenge winners do not join the accelerator, but they can receive follow-on contracts through DIANA's Rapid Adoption Service, per the FAQ.

Phases and grant amounts

According to the accelerator programme page, the €100,000 is paid in full before the programme starts, to the company and not to individuals. It funds development of the proposed solution over the first six months and must also cover travel to mandatory sessions; DIANA adds no separate travel money. The funding is provided on a tax-exempt basis, but companies remain subject to national tax obligations.

Mission Track is selective. Of the 150 companies in the 2026 cohort, 15 from ten countries were picked, each with €300,000 in non-dilutive funding, The Defense Post reported on 7 September 2026. European names in our directory include Alias Robotics, Fieldmade, Hefring Marine, InfraHex, JET Connectivity, Oledcomm, Spaceflux and Vig-Sec Drone.

Accelerator sites and test centres

Each company is assigned to one of 16 accelerator sites. Companies do not relocate but are expected to travel to their site, or to DIANA events, up to six times during the programme. Innovators can also use a network of more than 200 test centres across the Alliance for testing, evaluation, validation and verification, and may be invited to operational exercises, per the programme page. Extra testing money is available through competitive processes.

What companies get and what they give up

Intellectual property. Innovators retain all rights to their IP. DIANA "will neither take nor assert any rights" over it during the programme, and neither will other stakeholders, according to the FAQ. Proposals are treated as confidential and seen only by assigned evaluators.

Equity. None. DIANA's money is contractual and non-dilutive. If a company later raises from the NATO Innovation Fund, that is a separate equity deal with a separate organisation.

Obligations. Companies sign a framework agreement, keep developing the solution they proposed, attend mandatory sessions and meet contracting and reporting requirements. We have not seen the framework agreement itself, so check the terms for reporting duties and any restrictions before signing.

What they gain beyond the cash: access to military end-users and test ranges, a NATO-backed reference, and a route to Mission Track and follow-on contracts. For founders building in autonomy and AI, counter-drone or electronic warfare, the 2027 challenge list overlaps closely with those sectors.

How to prepare for the next call

• Check the ownership and control position on your cap table now, not at submission.
• Have evidence of TRL 4 or above, or TRL 7 for dynamic challenges.
• Write the dual-use case and the adoption route: who in a NATO armed force would buy or use the product, and how.
• Prepare for a live panel that scores commercial viability as well as technology.
• Watch for dynamic challenges between annual calls; they can open at any point in the year.

Browse European defence startups, including DIANA alumni, in our directory.