NATO appoints LEAD as Swedish accelerator for DIANA

‘It’s very positive that Sweden has an accelerator for NATO’s DIANA. Sweden has strong technology companies, a prominent defence industry and a growing ecosystem for defence innovation. DIANA will help accelerate the conversion of an increasing number of civilian innovations into military capabilities, allowing us to equip soldiers in Sweden and NATO with the best weapons possible,’ says Minister for Defence Pål Jonson.

‘As well as recognising the importance of LEAD, this is an acknowledgement of Sweden’s status as a technology and innovation nation. We now have a clearer role to play in the international cooperation on innovation that we see emerging in areas such as security, defence and future technologies,’ says Catharina Sandberg, Managing Director of LEAD.

‘Sweden is an important ally with a strong history of innovation and defence success. We welcome the addition of LEAD to the NATO DIANA network, adding Swedish technological expertise to our portfolio of accelerators supporting critical defensive capability across the Alliance,’ says Ms. Jyoti Hirani-Driver, Managing Director, NATO DIANA.

LEAD, which is based in Linköping and Norrköping, operates in one of Sweden’s strongest technology and defence industry clusters. It is estimated that the accelerator will have capacity to receive 10 NATO companies a year. Participating companies will have access to business coaching, testing environments and academic expertise, as well as to the defence industry and relevant government agency contacts.

Defence innovation is an important part of the work to reinforce military capabilities. The war in Ukraine has demonstrated how quickly new technology can change the battlefield. Through DIANA, companies can receive support to develop solutions that contribute to better command and control systems, sensors, protection and logistics, as well as robust communications and autonomous systems.

DIANA is intended to help emerging companies to develop solutions in areas such as artificial intelligence, advanced materials, sensor technology, cybersecurity, autonomous systems, visualisation and simulation. LEAD has more than 20 years’ experience of supporting deep tech companies and has already managed Sweden’s first national civilian-military accelerator programme.