Amid elevated momentum for protection, the NATO Innovation Fund refreshes its funding staff

Two years after securing $1 billion in commitments from over 20 international locations, the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF) is coming into a brand new chapter, marked by the arrival of two new companions and the departure of its penultimate founding staff associate.

In a context of elevated navy spending throughout NATO members, funding in dual-use know-how has skyrocketed because the initiative was first introduced in 2021. As soon as a no-go-zone for institutional traders, protection and resilience tech final reached an all-time high of 10% of all VC funding in Europe, the place almost all NIF’s backers are positioned.

This booming curiosity ought to have given NIF a first-mover benefit, however the fund was hampered by administration challenges and a collection of high-profile departures. After the 2025 NATO Summit in The Hague reaffirmed its significance final June, NIF is now rising with an nearly completely new funding staff. It’s composed of three companions.

Whereas NIF initially had 4 companions and one managing associate, an individual conversant in NIF mentioned that this flat, three-partner mannequin would be the construction in place for the foreseeable future, suggesting that no new hires are to be anticipated. These two appointments had beforehand been rumored, however the identities of the brand new companions had not been confirmed.

Two of the companions are new hires: Ulrich Quay and Sander Verbrugge, who will probably be primarily based in Amsterdam. Quay, a German nationwide, was most just lately answerable for company investments as a vice chairman at BMW, the place he beforehand based and led company enterprise fund BMW i Ventures. Verbrugge, a Dutch PhD in molecular biophysics, was beforehand a associate at deep tech VC fund Innovation Industries, which he joined after working at semiconductor design and manufacturing firm NXP. The third associate is London-based VC Patrick Schneider-Sikorsky, now the final remaining member of the unique funding staff. Alongside the brand new hires, the fund introduced the departure of founding staff associate Kelly Chen, who confirmed to TechCrunch that it was her choice and that she will probably be stepping away to construct a brand new enterprise. Chris O’Connor, one other founding staff associate, departed earlier this yr with comparable plans.

Chen at present sits on the board of a number of startups backed by NIF, however will transition her board duties as soon as her employment on the NIF has wrapped up, TechCrunch discovered from its chief communications and advertising officer, Amalia Kontesi. 

Whereas some observers want the fund had deployed capital sooner, she mentioned NIF “is on observe to satisfy [its] investing objectives for the yr.” Since its inception, NIF has made 19 investments: seven into funds equivalent to OTB Ventures, and 12 into startups together with Space Forge and Tekever, which makes dual-use drones.

Nonetheless, including new companions with industrial and scientific backgrounds, regardless of how spectacular, might not fulfill those that want that the fund may spend money on Ukraine or pure protection, versus twin use, in response to Russia’s conflict economic system. However additionally it is in step with NIF’s broader thesis to “empower deep tech founders to deal with challenges in defence, safety, and resilience.”

Nevertheless, NIF has additionally ramped up its efforts on the protection facet. Its staff was closely concerned within the improvement of NATO’s Rapid Adoption Action Plan, aimed toward accelerating the adoption and integration of recent technological merchandise for protection. NIF has additionally been build up its Mission Platform Group with strategic hires together with John Ridge, who was employed as chief adoption officer in 2024 to assist portfolio startups navigate navy procurement.

As for its new companions, they have been as soon as once more employed by way of a course of beforehand described by VC Michael Jackson as akin to “building a boy band” — recognized by NIF’s board of administrators and accredited by LPs, reasonably than having teamed up primarily based on shared historical past or chemistry. 

This can be inevitable for a corporation that now counts 24 international locations as restricted companions, however was typically pointed as one cause the earlier staff didn’t gel. This time, all three companions obtained to satisfy all through the recruitment course of and spend time collectively since then to “guarantee a clean transition and to place the staff for long run success,” Kontesi mentioned.

In a press release shared completely with TechCrunch, NIF’s vice chair, professor Fiona Murray, in contrast the group to a startup. “We’re pleased with what we achieved however like every efficient staff we’re studying, experimenting, enhancing:  dashing up our processes, increasing our platform assist for startups, doubling down on ecosystem constructing and extra broadly recognizing the necessity to construct the sector and the capital stack.” 

Murray expressed pleasure in having introduced collectively a certified staff that may collaborate successfully, creatively and shortly. “They’ll allow us to maneuver much more quickly and decisively to drive the Alliance’s technological agenda and assist the very best founders throughout European ecosystems,” she beforehand wrote in a joint assertion with NIF’s chair, Klaus Hommels. 

Hommels’ different actions as an investor have prompted questions about possible conflicts of interest, however no change seems to have been made to his position throughout NIF’s latest LP assembly in Venice. Reasonably than dwelling additional on its reorganization, NIF appears set on serving to NATO develop into extra resilient. “On this subsequent section,” NIF’s vice chair mentioned, “you’ll see us refocus on DSR alternatives and emphasize constructing corporations that may drive industrial scale and actually assist ecosystems throughout Europe.”