Defence Tech Valley 2025: Ukraine and EU strengthen cooperation in defence innovation
The Defence Tech Valley 2025, Europe’s leading dual-use technology and investment summit, brought together more than 5,000 technology developers, users, investors, and policymakers from over 50 countries, in Lviv on 16–17 September.
Organised with the support of the European Union, the event showcased Ukraine’s role as a global hub of battlefield-proven innovation.
“Ukrainian innovators are demonstrating remarkable speed and ingenuity in turning ideas into real defence technologies,” said Katarína Mathernová, Ambassador of the European Union to Ukraine. “By integrating Ukrainian innovation into the wider European ecosystem, we are not only strengthening Ukraine’s defence — we are also contributing to the security and resilience of the whole European continent”.
The summit connected high-potential Ukrainian startups and established industry leaders with international investors, allied state officials, and global manufacturers. Discussions covered the use of artificial intelligence in defence, investment strategies for Ukraine’s innovation sector, the commercialisation of wartime innovations, and cooperation between Ukraine, the EU, NATO, and allied partners.
“Ukraine has already generated many strong defence solutions, but without systemic support, they risk remaining isolated success stories. Our task is to turn this potential into an industry that works for the army and the state. Partnership with the European Union creates conditions for moving consistently from the first prototypes to serial production and for building a sustainable innovation ecosystem in which Ukrainian defence tech companies can compete internationally and earn the trust of European partners”, said Oleksii Dorohan, CEO of the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO).
Defence Tech Valley 2025 has also marked the launch of the first initiative under the new EU-funded project to strengthen defence innovation. The project will reinforce Ukraine’s defence-technological industrial base and integrate its capacities into the European innovation ecosystem. It will be implemented by the BRDO in partnership with the Ukrainian Startup Fund and Brave1. Key components include a grant programme to support Ukrainian innovations, development of regulatory changes to facilitate access of innovations to public defence procurement, and the creation of the Brave1 Exporoom in Kyiv. Details of the project will be officially announced in Kyiv later this autumn.
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