The programme will support joint defence projects and unlock funding for defence companies.

The European Commission and Ukraine have launched a new initiative to foster further defence industry collaboration, an 11 July announcement from the commission has revealed.  

Dubbed ‘BraveTech EU’, the initiative will bring key European defence components such as the European Defence Fund (EDF) and the EU Defence Innovation Scheme (EUDIS) into closer collaboration with Ukraine’s Brave1, the country’s defence accelerator.

Since its establishment in April 2023, Brave1 has grown the Ukrainian defence technology market “practically from zero” following Russia’s invasion, Brave1 CEO Natalia Kushnerska told DSEI Gateway in April. 

Now, BraveTech EU will drive similar innovation by supporting joint projects, hackathons, rapid testing, and direct collaboration between European and Ukrainian companies, particularly startups and small and medium-sized enterprises, the commission said.

The initiative will also provide grant support for defence startups, according to a LinkedIn post from Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Minister for Digital Transformation.

BraveTech EU will be implemented in two key phases, the commission explained, the first being a ‘seed’ phase in the autumn months of this year that will build on existing EDF activities.

Actions in this phase of the programme will include the aforementioned defence hackathons, as well as matchmaking between firms and investors in Ukraine and Europe, research and development funding, and testing opportunities to support technology development in Ukraine for European companies.

The second ‘scale up’ phase of the programme will utilise additional resources from the EDF, the Ukraine Support Instrument, and the European Defence Industrial Programme.

Activities under this phase include integrating “Ukrainian start-ups and scale-ups in the EUDIS Business Accelerator along with European companies” as well as exploring potential grants and equity support and technology development.

The EU Defence Innovation Office based in Kyiv will help support implementation of BraveTech EU, the commission added.

“BraveTech EU is a new strategic step for development of [the] EU’s and Ukraine’s defence industry cooperation”, Andrius Kubilius, EU Commissioner for Defence and Space, said, explaining that the programme is beneficial to both parties.

While the EU’s members have the industrial capacity to assist Ukrainian defence development, Kubilius said, the European defence industry can also “learn a lot” from the innovation in Ukraine’s defence tech community and ecosystem.

“We will deepen our integration – this is very much needed for both sides – for Ukraine and for the EU”, Kubilius added.  

DSEI Gateway News is part of DSEI UK and the broader Clarion Defence portfolio. 
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