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Investments in Ukrainian Defense Tech Hit $105M in 2024, Deals Seen Exceeding $1B by 2026
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Senior Ukrainian officials and defense-technology executives told an audience at Ukraine House Davos on January 20 that total investments into Ukrainian defense companies reached about $105 million last year and pointed to a deal of more than $700 million already reached this year as a sign that funding will rise sharply, adding he expected the total volume of deals to exceed $1 billion in 2026.
The statements were made during the “Tech-Democracy Partnerships: Ukraine’s Innovative Defense Sector is Vital for National Defense and For Modernizing European Security” panel at Ukraine House Davos.
The speakers from the Ukrainian side included Oleksandr Kamyshin, an adviser to the President of Ukraine, Hanna Hvozdiar, a deputy minister of defense, and Iryna Terekh, a CEO and CTO of Fire Point.
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“Last year, total investments into Ukrainian defense companies reached about $105 million. We have counted every deal. It is not a huge figure, but it is a beginning,” Kamyshin said.
“This year has already started with a deal of over $700 million—and some people on this panel know exactly which one I am referring to. This shows that the numbers will grow significantly. I am confident that in 2026 the total volume of deals will exceed $1 billion. And again, this is only the beginning.”
Hanna Hvozdiar described her ministry’s work as “on both sides,” saying officials support manufacturers in learning how to cooperate with investors and use investment to scale production and research, while also working with foreign investors on changes to mechanisms and legislation to improve Ukraine’s investment climate.
She said export restrictions had long been a key bottleneck for foreign investors seeking clarity on market access, adding that the president’s announcement on opening exports of defense technologies “significantly increased investor interest” by clarifying market potential.
Hvozdiar said the “true secret of success” for the Ukrainian defense industry was “the extremely close cooperation with the Armed Forces,” describing a fast innovation cycle driven by direct feedback from soldiers and commanders and an ecosystem that includes Brave1, the General Staff, the Ministry of Defense, the Unmanned Systems Forces, and other specialized units.
She said many manufacturers began not as businesses but as efforts to contribute to victory, with commercialization following later, and added that this tight developer-user loop enables rapid testing, adaptation, and scaling of battlefield-ready solutions.
Iryna Terekh, listed as CEO and CTO of Fire Point, said Ukraine should not rely on “the illusion that someone will always come to save you,” arguing that many Western weapons systems contain “kill switches” and external control mechanisms.
“Everything we build must be free from external interference, including from ourselves,” she said, adding that customers should be able to use purchased systems independently at any time.
Terekh also said no single weapon is a “wonder weapon,” and that outcomes depend on an ecosystem spanning end-user cooperation, logistics, data, and efforts to reduce soldiers’ cognitive load, adding that civilians should take on technical and analytical burdens so the military can focus on strategy and operations.
Earlier, it was reported that Ukraine planned a drone-production discussion with a visiting US delegation while assigning officials to expand defense exports and opening export hubs meant to reinvest proceeds into domestic production
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