LONDON, June 18 (Reuters) - A consortium of NATO allies

has confirmed the first tranche of companies awarded funding as

part of the group's one billion euro ($1.1 billion) innovation

fund.

The alliance unveiled the fund in the summer of 2022, months

after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, promising to invest in

technologies that would enhance its defences. The fund is backed

by 24 of NATO's 32 member states, including Finland and Sweden,

which joined the alliance earlier this year.

On Tuesday, the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF) confirmed it had

directly invested in four European tech companies, which it said

would help address challenges in defence, security, and

resilience.

The body has allocated funding to Fractile, a London-based

computer chipmaker aiming to make large language models (LLMs)

like those that power ChatGPT run faster, as well as Germany's

ARX Robotics, which designs unmanned robots with functions

ranging from heavy-lifting to surveillance.

The other two startups were British manufacturer iCOMAT,

which makes lighter materials for vehicles, and Space Forge, a

Welsh company that harnesses the conditions of space - such as

microgravity and vacuum conditions - to build semiconductors

in-orbit.

"Enabling access to strategic technologies is key to

securing a safe and prosperous future for the alliance's one

billion citizens," said Andrea Traversone, the fund's managing

partner.

The fund has also partnered with venture capital firms

Alpine Space Ventures, OTB Ventures, Join Capital and Vsquared

Ventures to support further investment in deep tech on the

continent.