NATO DIANA Selection Rates by Cohort
DIANA is one of the more competitive routes into defence innovation funding. Across every announced round, roughly 276 companies have been selected from about 7,927 applications, an approximate combined acceptance rate of 3.5%. Because several applicant figures are published as rounded minimums, every rate on this page is best read as an upper bound: the true rate is at most this high, and probably slightly lower.
Selection rate by round
| Round | Announced | Applications | Companies selected | Selection rate | Nations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | November 2023 | 1,300+ | 44 | ~3.4% | 19 |
| 2025 | December 2024 | 2,600+ | 72 | ~2.8% | 20 |
| 2026 | December 2025 | 3,600+ | 150 | ~4.2% | 24 |
| Warfighters | July 2026 | 427 | 10 | ~2.3% | 6 |
Applications per round
| Round | Applications | Share | Relative size |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20241,300+ | 1300 | 16.4% | |
| 20252,600+ | 2600 | 32.8% | |
| 20263,600+ | 3600 | 45.4% | |
| Warfighters427 | 427 | 5.4% |
Companies selected per round
| Round | Companies | Share | Relative size |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 44 | 15.9% | |
| 2025 | 72 | 26.1% | |
| 2026 | 150 | 54.3% | |
| Warfighters | 10 | 3.6% |
How to read these rates
Rates are upper bounds
NATO publishes several applicant counts as rounded minimums, for example "2,600+". Dividing selectees by the stated minimum produces the highest rate consistent with the published figure, so the real rate is at most the number shown.
Rounds are not identical
Cohorts differ in the number of challenge areas, the countries eligible and the maturity expected. A lower rate in one year does not by itself mean a stronger applicant pool.
Special challenges differ
The Warfighters Challenge is a separate, narrower competition with its own funding and timeline, so its rate is not directly comparable with an annual cohort.
Related pages
Methodology and limitations
Each rate is announced companies divided by published applications for the same round, rounded to one decimal place. The combined rate uses the sum of announced selectees over the sum of published applications rather than an average of the per-round rates, so larger rounds carry proportionally more weight.
NATO does not publish withdrawn or ineligible applications, so the denominator is whatever was announced. Rates therefore describe announced outcomes, not the internal assessment process.
Alliance Tech Tracker is independent and unofficial and is not affiliated with or endorsed by NATO or DIANA. Where a value is not published, records show "Not publicly available" rather than an estimate. See the full methodology.
Sources
Dataset version 2026.08 · data as of August 2026 · last reviewed 2026-08-23 · explore or download the full dataset