At an information day in Sofia, participants were introduced to the new opportunities for applying to the programme
It is important for more Bulgarian projects to apply for funding under the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) and to develop dual-use products and services. The countries participating in DIANA form a large market covering a vast geographical area. This was stated by Prof. George Angelov, Deputy Minister of Innovation and Growth, at the information day presenting the new opportunities and application schedule for Bulgarian participants in this year’s DIANA accelerator and incubation programme. The event was organized by the Ministry of Innovation and Growth and Sofia Tech Park.
According to Prof. Angelov, successful project implementation depends on effective cooperation between DIANA and the NATO Innovation Fund. Projects are initially encouraged through the programme, after which the Fund provides financing to support their growth.
The information day was held as part of the accelerator programme launched on 2 June, with an application deadline of 11 July. During the event, its Manager, Emma Ryan, presented ten new focus areas aimed at identifying the next generation of dual-use deep technologies that can contribute to NATO’s mission of building a peaceful, secure, and resilient future: energy and power; advanced communications technologies; contested electromagnetic environments; human resilience and biotechnology; critical infrastructure and logistics; operations in extreme environments; marine operations; sustainable space operations; autonomy and unmanned systems; and data-enabled decision-making.
Approved applicants will have the opportunity to participate in a six-month accelerator programme starting in January 2026. They will receive support of €100,000 to enhance their solutions, as well as access to a network of over 180 test centers across Europe and North America for testing, evaluation, validation, and verification activities.
