Amid increased momentum for defense, the NATO Innovation Fund refreshes its investment team

After two years of security Promise $ 1 Billion From more than 20 countries, the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF) is entering a new chapter, marked by the arrival of two new partners and its penaltime founding team’s exit.

In the context of increasing military spending across NATO members, this initiative has been the first to invest in the dual-use technology since the initiative was announced In 2021The Once for institutional investors, no-zone, defense and elasticity technology reached lately 10% of all VC funds all -time height In Europe, where almost all NIF supporters are located.

This emerging interest should have been given to the NIF first-match, but the fund was interrupted by a series of challenges and high-profile exit. After the 2025 NATO summit of the Hague last June, the importance of its importance, the NIF is now deriving with almost completely new investment teams. It is made up of three partners.

Although the NIF originally had four partners and a managing partner, a person familiar with the NIF said that this flat, three-partner model would be a structure for the future of the future, which suggests that no new fare can be expected. These two appointments were before RumorHowever, the identity of the new partners was not confirmed.

Two of the partners are the new fare: Ulith Kai and Sandar Verbrug, who will be located in Amsterdam. Kaye, a German citizen, was recently in charge of corporate investment as Vice President in BMW BMW I initiateThe Dutch PhD of molecular biophagics was part of the Deep Tech VC Fund Innovation Industries before Verbug, which he joined in semiconductor design and manufacturing company NXPThe The third partner is London-based VC Patrick Snyder-Sikorsky, now the last member of the original investment team. In addition to the new rental, the funds of the funds founder Kelly Chen announced the departure of the partner, who confirmed to TechCrunch that it was his decision and he would move away to create a new initiative. Another founding team partner Chris O’Conor made a similar plan earlier this year.

Chen is currently sitting on the board of several startups supported by the NIF, but if his employment in the NIF will be transferred, his board’s responsibilities will be transferred, TechCrunch has learned from his main communication and marketing officer, Amalia Contesses.

Although some observers are hoping that the fund has been deployed more quickly, he says that NIF is on the way to meet [its] Investing goals for the year. “Since the founding of, NIF has invested 19: like seven funds OTB VenturesAnd 12 at 12. Space Forgey And WickerWhich produces a dual-use drone.

Nevertheless, associating new partners with art and scientific backgrounds, no matter how impressive, those who can invest in Ukraine or authentic defense against dual use in response to the Russian war economy, cannot satisfy. However, it is also compatible with the broad thesis of the NIF “to empower the founders of deep technology to address the challenges of defense, protection and elasticity.”

However, the NIF has continued his efforts on the defense party. Its team was heavily involved in its development NATO Rapid Adoption Action PlanAim to accelerate new technical products for defense and accelerate integration. The NIF is also creating a mission platform group with strategic fare, including John Ridge, who was appointed as the Chief Adoption Officer to help navigate the military collection to Portfolio Startups in 2021.

As its new partners, they were recruited again through a process described as VC Michael Jackson Similar to the “building a boy band” – Authorized by LPS instead of pairing based on the NIF’s board of directors and shared history or chemistry.

It can be inevitable for an organization that now regarded 24 countries as limited partners, but often the previous party was identified as a reason not to be gel. Contesses said that this time three partners were able to meet across the recruitment process and spent time together “to ensure a smooth transformation and to stay for the team for long -term success,” Contesses said.

In a exclusively shared statement with TechCrunch, NIF Vice Chairman Professor Fiona Mor compares the organization to a startup. “We are proud of what we have achieved but we are learning like any effective team, experimenting: to expedite our processes, expand our platform support for startups, double to the ecosystem building and recognize the need for sector and capital stack more widely recognized.”

Murray expressed pride in combining a qualified team that could effectively cooperate, creative and quickly cooperate. “They will enable us to run the coalition’s technical agenda with more fast and decisions and support the best founders of the European ecosystem,” he earlier wrote in a joint statement with NIF’s Chair Claus Homemails.

Other activities of homemails as investors have encouraged questions About possible conflicts of interestHowever, his role has not been changed during the recent LP meeting in Venice. Instead of living further in its reconstruction, NIF seems to be ready to help NATO become more elastic. “This next stage,” the Vice Chairman of the NIF said, “You will see again focus on our DSR opportunities and emphasize building companies that can run industrial scales and truly support the ecosystem across Europe.”