For almost 5 years, we have been supporting Ukrainian startup ecosystem with special focus on software startups. Our portfolio was growing and developing. Over the years, we have invested $2.2 million in 18 portfolio companies.
Since the start of the full-scale invasion, we have continued to look for smart solutions. As it has not changed our approach to finding startups, but only broadened our focus and horizons, thus 6 new companies in our portfolio emerged after February 2022.
Still, as the whole world is now entering an era where it is not the number of weapons one can solely rely on, but rather smart technologies and technological progress. That is why we see our role in extending our many years of tech experience towards helping startups in the emerging defence field to shape the future of the industry in the name of global safety.
In March 2024 alongside tier-1 Ukrainian tech & educational companies as Genesis, KSE, and Buntar Aerospase we supported the launch of Defence Builder Accelerator. This program is aimed at helping Ukrainian defence startups grow and build investment attractive ventures and make a real impact on the battlefield.
On May 1, the Defence Builder accelerator program kicked off, inviting 15 startups in the areas of Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), Unmanned ground vehicles (UGV), Unmanned surface vehicles (USV), Cybersecurity, Avionics, Means of Electronic Warfare (EW) and Electronic Surveillance (ES), Software, Sensors, Demining solutions and Other
Through the program, selected startups will learn how to scale from “garage production” to a sustainable company. Acceleration includes:
- 4 months of training
- 100 hours of online lectures (70% practical cases, 30% theory)
- 1:1 mentoring sessions
There are 30+ mentors, who are the leaders of tech companies with experience in creating and scaling complex technological products. Military experts with first-hand combat experience and a deep understanding of battlefield needs are also involved in the program. Among mentors of the program are Mikhaylo Rogalsky, co-founder of Monobank; Oleksandr Solovei, co-founder at Finmap; Misha Rudominskiy, co-founder at Promin Aerospace and Himera; and many others.
Advisory Board includes:
- Daria Yaniieva, Investment Director at Sigma Software Labs
- Valery Krasovsky, CEO and co-founder of Sigma Software Group
- Vitaliy Laptenok, General Partner at Flyer One Ventures
- Michael Schneider, CEO of Kyiv School of Economics
- Anton Tokarev, Head of Growth and Tech Investments at Genesis
Led by the Ministry of Defence, Ukraine is currently accelerating the development of technological innovations for the battlefield. And the Defence Builder Accelerator takes its role in the field. The Ministry of Defence signed a cooperation agreement with the Defence Builder Accelerator to jointly support developers in creating technological solutions at the request of the Defence Forces and delivering them to the front line as quickly as possible. Acceleration will help them tailor technologies to meet the needs of the armed forces. Upon graduation from the program, developers will gain access to a network of investors, facilitating further advancement and deployment of their technologies.
“The combination of defence, government, and business expertise will help us achieve a technological advantage over the enemy. The Ministry of Defence has started cooperating with defence accelerators to bring technologies to the front line faster. We are grateful to the Defence Builder Accelerator for its clear actions to develop defence technology,”
said Kateryna Chernogorenko, Deputy Minister of Defence of Ukraine.
At the moment, our team is actively travelling around the world to gather insights and experiences from defence developments and put them to practical use. Recently, our Investment Director, Daria Yaniieva, has attended SOF Week in Tampa, FL, USA — a national convention dedicated to Special Operations Forces (SOF) with 16,000 attendees. At the end of May, she will be speaking at the Ukrainian Defence Industrial Base Forum in London, UK. We are continuously increasing our presence around the world to provide as many opportunities to Ukrainian-founded companies as we can from a business perspective. Since early-stage companies have limited resources, we are aimed to provide them with support and infrastructure to attract investment and build a startup community and investor network.
‘Defence tech encompasses more than just weapons; it includes solutions that enhance defence capabilities in various aspects of modern warfare, such as smart logistics, cybersecurity, reconnaissance, etc. Today, it’s crucial to foster opportunities for scaling such solutions to enhance global safety in the future’,
says Daria Yaniieva.
