INSIGHTS / Blog

The UK site of the NATO DIANA accelerator hosted an in-person programme week in London, bringing together innovators, policymakers and defence ecosystem leaders for a series of sessions focused on how breakthrough technologies move from promising ideas to operational capability.

The accelerator for the UK, co-located with NATO DIANA HQ, supports companies developing frontier technologies with potential defence and dual-use applications. Cluster weeks such as this are designed to give innovators direct exposure to the people, institutions and insights that shape how technologies are adopted across NATO and allied defence ecosystems.

Across the week, founders took part in discussions on defence adoption pathways, customer discovery and go-to-market strategies within NATO and allied defence markets. The aim was to combine practical founder insight with engagement from policymakers and innovation leaders who understand how new technologies are translated into deployable capability (i.e. how they get into the hands of the warfighter).

One of the key moments of the week was a fireside conversation with Steve Blank, one of the world’s leading authorities on entrepreneurship and innovation strategy. Steve joined John Cunningham, Director of UK Defence Innovation, and Ryan Benitez, Chief Commercial Officer at NATO DIANA, for a discussion on turning innovation into impact.

The session was also livestreamed across the DIANA network, reaching 17 additional accelerator sites and around 150 innovators across the NATO alliance. This allowed founders across the programme to engage with Steve’s insights on building technologies that can successfully move from innovation to deployment.

Steve’s work advising governments, start-ups and defence organisations has shaped how organisations approach innovation and customer discovery. For the DIANA cohort, the conversation explored how those principles apply within defence and dual-use markets, where founders must engage with complex customers, navigate procurement systems and demonstrate operational value.

Later in the week, innovators travelled to Westminster for a fireside conversation between Will Stone, Member of Parliament for Swindon North, home of the new UK Drone Hub, and Zelim, a UK maritime technology company developing autonomous man-overboard detection and recovery systems.

Zelim has developed advanced maritime man-overboard detection technology capable of detecting individuals in distress with speed and precision. Their systems have attracted growing interest across defence, coastguard and commercial maritime sectors. The discussion explored the company’s journey from early-stage UK non-dilutive grant-funded innovation through to real-world deployment and investment, offering valuable lessons for founders navigating similarly complex markets.

Alongside these headline discussions, the programme included practical workshops on defence go-to-market strategy, engaging early adopters across NATO and allied militaries, and preparing companies for the next phase of the DIANA accelerator programme.

Meet the innovators

The UK cohort brought together deep-tech companies from across the NATO alliance working on technologies relevant to contested electromagnetic environments, resilient navigation, secure communications and critical supply chains.

CX2 (USA) is developing AI-enabled hardware and software designed to dominate the electromagnetic spectrum on the modern battlefield, enabling forces to detect, disrupt and defend against signals in contested environments.

FOSSA Systems (Spain) is building sovereign low-Earth orbit satellite constellations that combine secure low-power communications with space-based signals intelligence to support industrial monitoring, defence operations and resilient connectivity.

LSMedical (Estonia) is addressing NATO’s dependence on rare-earth permanent magnets by developing advanced materials that deliver high-performance magnets without relying on vulnerable supply chains.

Oledcomm (France) is a pioneer of Li-Fi technology, enabling ultra-secure, high-speed wireless communications using light rather than radio frequencies – an approach that can operate effectively in environments where traditional signals are jammed or restricted.

SDQ Solutions Canada (Canada) is developing a quantum-resistant anti-spoofing system designed to protect Positioning, Navigation and Timing infrastructure from increasingly sophisticated attacks.

Slipstream Engineering Design (United Kingdom) delivers advanced digital RF sensing and communications technologies capable of operating in highly contested electromagnetic environments.

Tern AI (USA) developed a navigation system that provides precise vehicle positioning without relying on GNSS or satellite signals, enabling resilient navigation in degraded or denied environments.

Testnor (Norway) specialises in testing advanced technologies in realistic threat environments, helping organisations validate system resilience by simulating real-world attacks and extreme operational conditions.

For us within the SETsquared Partnership, delivering the UK accelerator within the JANUS consortium allowed us to apply our experience supporting high-growth technology companies to the defence and dual-use domain, connecting innovators with the expertise, networks and institutional pathways needed to move technologies from concept towards operational capability across the NATO alliance.