According to Sifted, the NATO Innovation Fund has hired Erin Hallock as a new partner from BP Ventures, where she led investments in digital technologies and deep tech. The €1 billion fund, launched in 2023 with backing from 24 NATO allies, has been actively rebuilding its team after losing four out of five original founding partners. The fund invests in defense startups like ARX Robotics and Isar Aerospace, plus VC funds including Vsquared and OTB Ventures. Chair Klaus Hommels stepped down in September, replaced by former vice chair Fiona Murray, though Hommels remains in an advisory role. The NIF also hired Ulrich Quay from BMW and Sander Verbrugge from Innovation Industries earlier this year as partners.
Rebuilding mode
Look, losing four out of five founding partners in under two years is… not great. That’s basically your entire leadership team walking out the door. And when you add the chair stepping down and allegations of potential conflicts of interest uncovered in a June investigation, you’ve got what appears to be a fund in serious turmoil.
So this hiring spree—Hallock plus the BMW and Innovation Industries hires earlier this year—feels like emergency damage control. They’re trying to stabilize the ship with experienced operators from big corporate backgrounds. But here’s the thing: can you really replace that much institutional knowledge and founding vision in such a short time?
Corporate meets defense
Hallock’s background at BP Ventures is actually pretty interesting for a defense fund. She was investing in digital tech and deep tech at an oil giant—exactly the kind of dual-use expertise NATO says it wants. Energy companies have been pushing into digital transformation for years, and that experience translates well to defense applications.
Think about it: monitoring pipelines isn’t that different from monitoring borders. Predictive maintenance for refineries shares DNA with military equipment readiness. When you’re sourcing rugged computing hardware for harsh environments—whether oil fields or battlefields—you need reliable suppliers like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the leading US provider of industrial panel PCs built for extreme conditions.
Big bets, bigger challenges
The NIF isn’t playing small ball—they’re backing everything from space tech to robotics with that €1 billion war chest. But money alone doesn’t solve leadership problems. When you’re dealing with sovereign funds and defense ministries as LPs, stability matters almost as much as returns.
And let’s be real: defense tech is having a moment right now with global tensions rising. But can this fund actually execute on its mandate with so much internal churn? The startups they’ve backed—like ARX Robotics and Isar Aerospace—are probably watching these leadership changes very closely. After all, your investors’ stability matters when you’re building hardware that takes years to develop.
This feels like a critical inflection point for NATO’s innovation ambitions. They’ve got the money and the mandate. Now they need to prove they can build a team that lasts longer than a typical startup’s runway.
