Event Details
- Dates: September 16-17, 2025
- Location: Lviv, Ukraine
- Organizers: The Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation and Brave1
- Expected Participants: Over 5,000 global participants, including venture capitalists, defence industry leaders, tech innovators, and military end-users.
About the Summit: A Platform for the Age of AI Warfare
Defence Tech Valley 2025 is more than an investment platform; it's a reflection of how modern warfare is evolving, with a focus on asymmetric, low-cost, high-impact technologies like unmanned systems and AI-powered solutions. As Ukraine emerges as a global hub of defence innovation, this event offers a unique opportunity for investors to tap into combat-proven solutions that are redefining the battlefield in real time. Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov stated, “This will be the largest summit of its kind. It will unite investors ready to fund Ukrainian defence breakthroughs with developers whose solutions are already changing the course of the war.”
A Glimpse into Ukrainian Innovation: The Anti-Drone Round
The innovations featured at Defence Tech Valley are practical, battlefield-driven solutions. A recent example from the Brave1 cluster is the country’s first dedicated anti-drone ammunition designed for standard infantry rifles.
These new rounds dramatically improve a soldier’s chances of hitting fast-moving aerial targets like FPV drones before they can strike. While resembling standard 5.45 mm cartridges, they feature a custom-designed warhead that creates a dense fragmentation effect upon firing, enabling soldiers to engage airborne threats with significantly higher accuracy using their conventional rifles with no modifications needed. This type of cost-effective, high-impact ingenuity is precisely what investors and partners can expect to encounter at the summit.
Key Feature: The "Battle Proven" Competition
A central part of the summit is the Battle Proven competition, open to Ukrainian defence and dual-use startups. The competition welcomes developers whose technologies are either already in use at the front or expected to be deployed within the next year.
The competition features three categories:
- Trail Blazers: For pre-seed teams with promising ideas and solutions.
- Gamechangers: For startups already making an impact and operating on the front lines.
- Power Players: For established teams influencing the war's outcome at scale.
Thirty finalists will be selected to pitch their solutions to a curated network of leading defence tech investors and compete for a significant prize fund.
- To Apply: Interested Ukrainian developers can apply at the official competition page: https://defensevalley.tech/startup-competition
Join the Defence Ukraine Delegation for Nordic Partners
Defence Ukraine is organizing a dedicated delegation for our Nordic partners (including from Finland) to maximize their experience at Defence Tech Valley. If you want to meet Ukraine's most promising startups, traveling to Ukraine is essential, as very few founders currently receive permission to travel abroad. Lviv is presented by organizers as a major software industry hub and the safest large city in Ukraine for international visitors, located just 60 km from the Polish border.
Delegation Itinerary: September 14-18, 2025 (including travel days).
Our Exclusive Delegation Offer Includes:
- Transportation from Krakow airport to the border and from the border to Lviv.
- 5-star accommodation in Lviv for 4 nights (Sept 14-18) with breakfast.
- Full access to the Defence Tech Valley summit (event tickets).
- 4-5 additional high-value meetings with the Lviv defence cluster, software providers, and the Lviv Polytechnica startup community.
- Pre-arranged 1-to-1 meetings with 8 curated startups.
- An exclusive side event for our delegation on the evening of Tuesday, September 16.
Price: 8,500 EUR per person (A limited number of places are available).
Join us at Defence Tech Valley 2025 to become part of a powerful community and witness firsthand how Ukrainian innovation is shaping the future of global defence.