Two Coimbra-based deep-tech companies are halfway through what may be the most strategically important year of their existence. Neuraspace, an AI-driven space situational awareness platform, and Connect Robotics, an autonomous-drone logistics specialist, were the only Portuguese firms selected for the 2026 cohort of NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA). The selection was confirmed in December 2025; the operational benefits are starting to bite now — and the geography of those benefits is overwhelmingly Nordic and Baltic.
DIANA is NATO’s flagship dual-use technology programme. The 2026 cohort, announced as a 150-company class from a pool of thousands of applications across the 32 NATO allies, gives selected startups an initial €100,000 grant, the right to compete for a further €300,000 follow-on award, and — commercially most important — access to NATO’s network of 16 accelerators and more than 200 test centres. A material share of that network sits in the Nordic and Baltic flank: Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania each contribute test infrastructure and accelerator capacity.
Neuraspace under the “Resilient Space Operations” challenge. The Coimbra company — an Instituto Pedro Nunes spin-off — uses machine learning to predict satellite collision risk and to automate avoidance manoeuvres. Its product is exactly the type of capability Nordic and Baltic governments are now buying: in January 2026 the Swedish Armed Forces signed a multi-year, multi-million sovereign satellite agreement with ICEYE, and Stockholm separately announced an acquisition of ten surveillance satellites worth roughly €121 million. Norway is commissioning Andoya Spaceport as a sovereign small-launch site; Finland and Estonia are scaling national space programmes through ESA and EDA channels. The downstream space-traffic management and orbital safety market that Neuraspace addresses is, in 2026, a Nordic-led procurement story.
Connect Robotics under the “Critical Infrastructure & Logistics” challenge. Connect Robotics builds autonomous drone solutions for logistics — medical deliveries, last-mile transfer, infrastructure inspection — with a heavy emphasis on regulated airspace operations. Its target market overlaps directly with the way Nordic militaries and homeland-security agencies are rebuilding their logistics doctrine: long supply lines, dispersed assets, and a clear preference for unmanned solutions in northern winter conditions. DIANA’s logistics challenge is structured exactly to bring this kind of dual-use capability into operational test ranges, where Nordic-Baltic users can validate it before signing procurement contracts.
Why this matters for the corridor. For years, Portuguese defence-tech entrants to the Nordic market relied on bilateral introductions, trade fairs, or partnerships with prime contractors. DIANA collapses that pathway. A Coimbra startup with a working product can now book test slots in Sweden, Finland or the Baltics through the DIANA programme office; receive an introduction to the relevant national accelerator; pitch directly to test-centre commanders; and compete for follow-on funding through the same channel. That is a structural change for Portuguese dual-use companies whose addressable European customer base is essentially Nordic, Baltic and German.
Neuraspace and Connect Robotics also benefit from a reputational halo. The DIANA selection signals to Nordic procurement officers and to the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF) that these companies have already cleared a rigorous, alliance-wide vetting process. NIF — the €1 billion venture vehicle backed by 24 NATO allies including all the Nordics — has a known preference for companies that have either been through DIANA or have product traction with allied militaries. Tekever, Portugal’s defence-tech unicorn, is a portfolio company. The DIANA-to-NIF pipeline is now functioning in both directions.
What to watch over the next 12 months. Three indicators will tell us whether the Portuguese pair convert the DIANA selection into commercial outcomes. First: operational test announcements at named Nordic or Baltic ranges — expect early news from Estonia (drone test ranges) and Sweden (space ground segment). Second: a follow-on round of DIANA funding (the €300K top-up), which is awarded competitively and which tends to be a leading indicator of future government procurement. Third: any NIF-led or NIF-syndicated venture round — that is the moment the alliance-funded customer pipeline becomes a balance-sheet event.
For Portugal more broadly, the symbolism is useful but the practicality is what counts. The country has spent the last 18 months trying to convert its 2% NATO defence-spending commitment into an industrial story: more Critical Software work on Saab Gripen, more OGMA MRO capacity, more Tekever drones in northern theatres. Neuraspace and Connect Robotics are the small end of that pipeline — the next-generation companies whose addressable market is now, finally, the Nordic-Baltic flank of the alliance. DIANA is the lever they will use to get there.