Amid an increasing momentum for defense, the NATO Innovation Fund updates its investment team

Two years after insurance $ 1 billion in obligations Of more than 20 countries, NIFs enter a new chapter, characterized by the arrival of two new partners and the departure of its penultimate founder.

In the context of increasing military spending through NATO members, investment in double -use technology has increased since the first time In 2021. Once there is no area for institutional investors, defense technology has reached recently again The highest level ever of 10 % of all VC financing In Europe, where there are almost all NIF supporters.

This prosperous attention should have gave NIF the first engine feature, but the fund was hindered through management challenges and a series of outstanding departure. After the NATO summit in 2025 in The Hague reaffirmed its importance last June, NIF now appeared with almost a new investment team. It consists of three partners.

While NIF originally had four partners and one administrative partner, a person familiar with NIF said that this three -winged flat model will be the structure in force in the foreseeable future, indicating that there is no new employment. These two appointments were previously RumorBut the identities of the new partners have not been confirmed.

Two partners are two new employment: Ulrich Kawai and Sander Ferberg, who will be based in Amsterdam. Quay, a German citizen, was recently responsible for companies’ investments as a vice president at BMW, where he previously established and led the Companies Project Fund. BMW I am the adventures. Viroproge, a Dutch doctorate in vital molecular physics, was a partner at Deep Tech Vc Fund Innovation, which he joined after working in the design and manufacturing company. NXP. The third partner is the London-based VC Patrick Schneider-Sikorsky, and is now the last member of the original investment team. In addition to the new appointments, the fund announced the departure of the partner of the founding team, Kelly Chen, who emphasized Techcrunch that its decision would move away from building a new project. Chris Okonor, another founder, left earlier this year with similar plans.

Chen is currently on the board of directors of many NIF -backed startup companies, but it will transfer the responsibilities of the Board of Directors as soon as it concludes its work in NIF, and Techcrunch learned from the chief communications and marketing employees, Amalia Konesi.

While some observers want the fund to have spread the capital faster, NIF “is on the right path to achieve investment goals () for this year.” Since its inception, NIF has made 19 investments: seven money such as money Otb otb VenturesAnd 12 in startups, including Forge space and TekeverWhich makes drones double use.

However, the addition of new partners with industrial and scientific backgrounds, regardless of the impressive, may not satisfy those who want the fund to invest in Ukraine or pure defense, rather than double use, in response to the war economy in Russia. But it is also in line with the broader NIF thesis of “enabling deep technology founders to face challenges in defense, security and flexibility.”

However, NIF has increased its efforts on the defense side. Her team strongly participated in developing A work plan that adopts fast NATOIt aims to accelerate the adoption and integration of new technological products for defense. NIF also builds a set of task platforms with strategic appointments including John Ridge, who was appointed as head of adoption in 2024 to help startups in military purchases.

As for its new partners, they were appointed again through an operation that it described by VC Michael Jackson in advance Closer to “Building a Boy Squad” – It was identified by the NIF board and approved by LPS, instead of cooperation based on joint or chemistry.

This may be inevitable for an organization now is 24 countries as limited partners, but it is often referred to as one of the reasons for the absence of the previous team. This time, all the three partners have been able to meet during the recruitment process and spend time together since then “to ensure a smooth transition and the team put for success in the long term,” Koncy said.

In a joint statement exclusively with Techcrunch, Vice President NIF, Professor Fiona Murray, compared the starting to start. “We are proud of what we have accomplished, but like any effective team we learn, try and improve: accelerate our operations, expand our platform’s support for startups, double the construction of the ecosystem, and recognize the broadest scale of the need to build the sector and the capital stack.”

Murray expressed his pride in gathering a qualified team that can cooperate effectively, creatively and quickly. “We will enable us to move more quickly and decisive in pushing the technological alliance’s agenda and supporting the best founders of European ecosystems,” she wrote in a joint statement with the Neve Chair, Klaus Hummel.

Hommels’s other activities were paid as a question investor About the conflict of potential interestsBut it seems that no change has been made to his role during the last LP meeting in the NIF in the Venice. Instead of the residence more than reorganizing it, NIF appears to be specific to help NATO to become more flexible. “At this next stage, you will see us re -focus on DSR opportunities and emphasize construction companies that can push the industrial scope and really support ecosystems throughout Europe,” said Vice President NIF.