NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, has recently announced a new $1 billion public venture capital fund targeting tech startups that focus on safety, freedom, and human empowerment. This new fund is a major endorsement from NATO of the tech-startup sector and is designed to support creative entrepreneurs that create innovative ways of solving problems related to societal issues as well as challenging the security and defence of the nation.
NATO’s Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, declared that “[NATO] must also look to the future and invest in the technologies shaping our future world — from artificial intelligence and cyberspace to autonomous systems and space.” As such, this new fund will focus on supporting several aspects of technology such as connected homes, urban mobility, digital healthcare, autonomous vehicles, and other digital products that are revolutionizing the way services are delivered to citizens.
The Fund’s Advisory Board will seek to make strategic investments in companies that have promising business models, are well capitalized, and have the potential to become commercially successful. The Advisory Board hopes to draw in experienced investors to back the new ventures and provide strategic advice and guidance to the startups. NATO aims to select projects with the potential to ultimately contribute to NATO’s three core mission areas: safety, freedom and human empowerment.
Though some may see this venture as counter-intuitive to NATO’s usual mission, Stoltenberg believes that the Fund is necessary for NATO to keep up with modern technological advances. He stated that “NATO understands the power of technology — and we want to help harness its potential to ensure our security, our freedom and our shared values. This is an essential part of our mission to protect and defend.”
It is unclear what the impact of introducing such a large amount of venture capital into the already busy tech startup market may have; however, NATO’s move clearly indicates their commitment to investing in riskier projects that may offer valuable solutions for essential societal challenges. In addition, this move provides a promising opportunity for those startups looking to make a positive impact, while providing a valuable investment opportunity for reliable investors. It will be interesting to see how the public venture capital fund affects not only the tech startup sector, but also how it will influence NATO’s mission going forward.
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