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Creating a dedicated defence startup market: Mykhailo Fedorov

Ukraine Government

Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, posted 14 July 2025 19:16

Last week, Ukraine and the EU announced the launch of BraveTech EU, a joint initiative to scale military innovations across the continent. In an interview with RBC-Ukraine, Deputy Prime Minister for Innovation, Education, Science, and Technology Development and Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, discussed the new initiative, replacing humans with artificial intelligence on the battlefield, and updates to the e-Points system.

BraveTech EU

For two years, Ukraine's Brave1 cluster has been the largest angel investor in the defence tech sector, providing startups with over UAH 2.2 billion in grants.

"Now, Brave1's successful experience is being scaled up to Europe. In essence, we are launching a European Brave, enabling continued investment in both Ukrainian and European projects. A separate budget will be allocated for this. We are creating a dedicated market for defence startups," said Mykhailo Fedorov.

Initially, Ukraine and the EU will each invest EUR 50 million in the initiative. Plans are in place to manage larger sums in the future, as other countries have expressed readiness to join BraveTech EU. Previously, European companies had valuable innovations but lacked a convenient platform for collaboration with Ukraine. Now, a dedicated joint market for defence startups will be established.

Among the first joint projects may be highly autonomous solutions, countermeasures against guided aerial bombs, and fibre-optic drones, which can be scaled based on frontline needs.

AI in warfare

Artificial intelligence is actively used in military applications, from decoding battlefield imagery and videos to identify enemy positions to guiding FPV drones. Additionally, a dedicated grant programme for AI in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is being launched, as this represents the future of warfare.

"We need to remove UAV operators from the battlefield. The russians have created the 'Rubicon' unit, which actively targets our operators. Our task is to ensure maximum remote control and then introduce autonomy. This is the next step in warfare. The goal is for an operator to control a drone on the battlefield from any city in the country. Ultimately, full drone autonomy is the aim, but that may take years," explained Mykhailo Fedorov.

Updates to the e-Points system

Recently, the Government updated the Army of Drones programme, including its bonus system, also known as e-Points, which motivates military units. Now, units can use earned combat points to acquire not only UAVs but also electronic warfare (EW) systems and ground robotic complexes from the Brave1 Market. The entire process will be conducted online to deliver technologies to the battlefield faster, without unnecessary paperwork.

"We see from the data how some units have grown by receiving more drones through this motivational system. There are also many indirect results. On one hand, units are expanding; on the other, we are collecting real-time battlefield data that enables better managerial decisions. We have gathered real-time battlefield data that no other system has," emphasised Mykhailo Fedorov.

For more insights on solutions against Shahed drones, Ukrainian ballistics, and the development of Brave1, read the full interview via the link.