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Ukraine to Host Record-Breaking Global Summit on Defense Tech and Battlefield AI

Ukraine to Host Record-Breaking Global Summit on Defense Tech and Battlefield AI

The Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation and the Brave1 defense tech cluster will co-host Defense Tech Valley 2025—a landmark event poised to become the world’s largest investment summit dedicated to military technology.

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Photo of Vlad Litnarovych
Vlad Litnarovych
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Scheduled for September 16–17 in Lviv, the summit will draw more than 5,000 participants from around the globe, including venture capitalists, defense industry leaders, and tech innovators.

The summit will unite investors from the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Ukraine with defense tech end users and cutting-edge startups. It aims to catalyze partnerships that bring battlefield-tested innovations from Ukraine to the global stage.

“Ukrainian defense innovations have permanently changed the doctrine of warfare. The world is witnessing how low-cost, high-impact technologies can deliver devastating blows to the enemy, destroying billions of dollars’ worth of equipment,” said Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation.

“Investing in Ukrainian defense tech today is no longer just about supporting a nation under attack; it’s a chance to access innovations that will shape the future of military technology for decades to come.”

A summit built for the age of AI warfare

Brave1 Defense Tech Valley is more than just a platform for investment—it’s a reflection of how warfare itself is evolving. The summit will focus on asymmetric technologies, unmanned systems, and AI-powered solutions, many of which are being developed and deployed daily on the Ukrainian battlefield.

Ukraine has rapidly emerged as a global hub of defense innovation, field-testing technologies under real combat conditions. This summit offers a rare opportunity for global investors to connect with teams creating and refining systems that are already shaping the future of war and security.

The battle-proven competition

A key feature of the summit will be the Battle Proven competition, which is now accepting applications. The competition is open to Ukrainian defense and dual-use startups whose technologies are either already deployed at the front or set to be fielded within the next 12 months.

The competition includes three categories:

  • Trail Blazers—Pre-seed teams with promising ideas;

  • Gamechangers—Startups already making a frontline impact;

  • Power Players—Established teams influencing the war’s outcome at scale.

Thirty finalists will be selected to pitch their solutions to a curated network of the world’s top defense tech investors and compete for a significant prize fund.

A rare investment gateway

With Ukraine’s defense sector under constant pressure to adapt and innovate, Defense Tech Valley offers a timely gateway for investors to tap into combat-proven innovations, many of which are redefining the battlefield in real time.

“This will be the largest summit of its kind,” Fedorov said. “It will unite investors ready to fund Ukrainian defense breakthroughs with developers whose solutions are already changing the course of the war.”

Earlier, Ukraine’s defense innovation cluster Brave1 has introduced the country’s first dedicated anti-drone ammunition designed for standard infantry rifles.

The new rounds dramatically improve a soldier’s chances of hitting fast-moving aerial targets—such as FPV drones or commercial quadcopters—before they strike. Though the cartridges resemble regular 5.45 mm rounds, they feature a custom-designed warhead that creates a dense and rapid fragmentation effect upon firing.

This enables soldiers to engage airborne threats with significantly higher accuracy using conventional automatic rifles—no modifications needed.

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