Ukraine and the EU will allocate 100 million euros for defense innovations under a new initiative

The European Union and Ukraine are launching a new defense initiative, BraveTech EU. Under it, the parties will mobilize 100 million euros to find technological game-changers for war, Deputy Prime Minister for Innovation, Education, Science and Technology Mykhailo Fedorov said.

The Ukrainian government official announced the launch of the initiative together with European Commissioner for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius.

The project will be coordinated by the Brave1 Defence Innovation Cluster on the Ukrainian side. The EU will coordinate the programme through the European Defence Innovation Office (EUDIO), based in Kyiv. Funding will be provided by the European Defence Fund (EDF) and the EU Defence Innovation Scheme (EUDIS).

"This is the first large-scale technological alliance between Ukraine and Europe. A partnership on equal terms - each side will allocate half of the amount," said Mykhailo Fedorov.

He explained that BraveTech EU is:

- hackathons between Ukrainian and European companies, testing of results;

- grant support for defense startups;

- integration of Ukrainian defense tech into the European market;

- co-creation of solutions that will change the rules of the game on the battlefield.

The implementation of the initiative will take place in two stages:

1) Seed (fall 2025)

Hackathons with a focus on front-line needs, establishing partnerships between startups, investors, and companies.

2) Scale up (2026)

Attracting additional resources to provide grants to startups. This is what will make it possible to scale the breakthrough solutions that will be developed during hackathons.

By the way, in June, Brave1 announced the launch of the Brave1 Club initiative. This is a simplified procedure for joining the ecosystem for sustainable companies and manufacturers that do not require grants.