Ukraine, France to Launch Joint Defense-Tech Startup Grant Program

Ukraine’s defense-tech cluster, Brave1, and the French Defense Innovation Agency signed a letter of intent to launch “Brave France,” a joint grant program for startups from both countries, Oleksandr Borniakov, Ukraine’s Acting Minister of Digital Transformation, announced on Wednesday.

The grant program aims to support Ukrainian and French developers. The partnership focuses on three core pillars:

• Joint grants to support Ukrainian and French developers
• Hackathons (collaborative events)
• Testing innovative developments in real conditions through the Test in Ukraine platform

“The official launch of Brave France is scheduled for the second quarter of 2026. We continue to develop Brave1 and create technologies that change the course of war,” Borniakov wrote on Telegram. 

Brave1, the state-led defense tech accelerator, has become the central hub for integrating private-sector innovation into Ukraine’s security forces. The cluster recently stated that the ecosystem is maturing rapidly – in 2025, more than 50 Ukrainian defense-tech startups secured over $105 million in combined funding from venture capital and angel investors.

According to Brave1’s December press release, looking ahead to 2026, it identified a trend toward faster integration between established defense firms and agile startups, likely leading to increased merger and acquisition (M&A) activity. It also anticipates more early-stage deals under Ukrainian jurisdiction, supported by the Diia City special tax regime, and the potential for the first Series B funding rounds to exceed $50 million.