By Martin Coulter
LONDON (Reuters -) – A group of NATO allies confirmed the first batch of companies that received funding from the group’s $1,1 billion ($1,1 billion) innovation fund.
The alliance announced the fund in summer 2022, several months after the Russian invasion in Ukraine. It promised to invest in technologies which would improve its defences. The fund is supported by 24 of NATO’s 32 member countries, including Finland, Sweden, and the United States, who joined the alliance this year.
The NATO Innovation Fund (NIF), which announced its investment in four European tech firms on Tuesday, said that it would help to address challenges in defence and security as well as resilience.
The body has allocated funds to Fractile AI – a London-based chipmaker that aims to make large language model (LLM) such as those that power ChatGPT faster – as well as Germany’s ARX Robotics – which designs unmanned robotics with functions ranging anywhere from heavy-lifting and surveillance.
The other two startups are British manufacturer iCOMAT which produces lighter materials for vehicles and Space Forge a Welsh company which harnesses conditions in space – like microgravity and vacuum – to manufacture semiconductors on-orbit.
“Enabling the access to strategic technologies is crucial to securing a prosperous and safe future for the one billion citizens of the alliance,” said Andrea Traversone.
The fund has also partnered up with venture capital firms Alpine Space Ventures (ASV), OTB Ventures (OTB), Join Capital, and Vsquared Ventures in order to support more investment into deep tech on the African continent.
(Reporting and editing by Bill Berkrot; Bill Coulter)