Leaders of 22 NATO Allies Launch Defense Innovation Fund Worth $1.05Bln

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The leaders of 22 countries out of NATO's 30 allies signed a commitment document under the alliance's 1 billion euro ($1.05 billion) Innovation Fund at the summit in Madrid, the alliance said in a statement on Thursday.

"On Thursday (30 June 2022), at a signing ceremony hosted by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Leaders and Ministers from 22 Allied countries* launched NATO’s Innovation Fund, the world’s first multi-sovereign venture capital fund," the statement read.

The idea of ​​creating a fund was approved last year to strengthen technological superiority. According to Stoltenberg, the fund is intended to support innovations that will strengthen the collective security of allies.

"With a 15-year timeframe, the NATO Innovation Fund will help bring to life those nascent technologies that have the power to transform our security in the decades to come, strengthening the Alliance’s innovation ecosystem and bolstering the security of our one billion citizens," Stoltenberg said.

The NATO Secretary General added that the fund would allow allies to invest 1 billion euro in start-ups and programs developing new dual-use technologies such as artificial intelligence. Together with NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic, or DIANA, the new fund will leverage the best new technologies to ensure transatlantic security.