The €1bn NATO Innovation Fund (NIF) has hired a new partner as it continues to bolster its team after a series of exits.
Erin Hallock joins NIF from BP Ventures, the venture arm of oil and gas giant BP. There, Hallock led the firm’s investments into digital technologies and deep tech.
In a statement, the NIF said Hallock’s background will help with its focus on dual-use technologies — those which have both defence and civilian applications.
The NIF’s fund was launched in 2023 with the backing of 24 NATO allies, which invested as LPs via sovereign funds and ministries of defence (MoDs).
The fund has invested in a number of deeptech and defence startups, including German unmanned robotics startup ARX Robotics and spacetech Isar Aerospace, as well as several VC funds including Vsquared and OTB Ventures.
However the NIF has also faced a number of challenges in the last two years, including the departure of four out of five of its original founding partners and allegations of potential conflicts of interest, as detailed in a Sifted investigation in June.
In September, the chair of the NIF, tech investor Klaus Hommels, stepped down from his role and was replaced by former vice chair Fiona Murray. Hommels remains at the NIF, now in an advisory role.
Earlier this year the NIF also hired Ulrich Quay, formerly VP of corporate investment management and joint ventures at BMW, and Sander Verbrugge, formerly a partner at Dutch deeptech VC Innovation Industries, as partners.
