NATO · NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA), co-funded with Ukraine's Brave1 / Ministry of Digital Transformation via NATO's Comprehensive Assistance Package (CAP)
UNITE – Brave NATO is the first joint NATO-Ukraine programme designed to scale prototyped and battlefield-tested innovative technologies that meet interoperability requirements, executed by NCIA via NATO competitive procurement.
For NATO-nation defence-tech SMEs, this is a direct route to innovation contracts funded by NATO's CAP, with no requirement to have pre-existing Ukrainian partners — the portal's matchmaking system facilitates pairing.
24 NATO Allies (standalone venture capital fund)
The only sovereign-backed VC dedicated to Alliance defence, security and resilience: patient capital comfortable with defence sales cycles, and a cheque that signals credibility to ministries and co-investors.
NATO / NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), governed by the Conference of National Armaments Directors (CNAD)
AFSC is the largest and most complex capability procurement effort NATO has undertaken, offering sustained long-term contracting opportunities for defence and deep-tech companies across all 32 Allied nations. Companies working in ISR, unmanned systems, space-based surveillance, AI/data fusion, cloud architectures, and C2 systems are directly in scope for national and multinational development contracts tailored to AFSC requirements. Entering the Realization Stage in 2026 signals that procurement contracts for actual capability delivery—not just studies—are now on the near-term horizon.
The fastest single door into NATO for a dual-use startup: non-dilutive cash, military end-users, test infrastructure, and since 2026 a direct contracting path to Allied ministries via the Rapid Adoption Service.