Ukrainian Defense Tech Night: Protect & Innovate took place in California

On 11 October, a16z held the Ukrainian Defence Tech Night: Protect & Innovate, the first Ukrainian event dedicated to defence technology, which was attended by about 300 experts and entrepreneurs. The event was supported by the Consulate General of Ukraine in San Francisco, UkraineNow, and the IT Ukraine Association. It was the first time in history that Silicon Valley hosted a Ukrainian defence tech event.

“We see a growing interest in defence technology in Silicon Valley, where venture capital funds are creating specialised teams for this industry. However, real rapid defence innovation is only possible in Ukraine today, where hundreds of teams of talented engineers are working on new solutions on the battlefield. They need international expertise, technology and capital to continue to grow. The answer to this challenge could be the launch of non-equity funds to support Ukrainian defence start-ups, which would help increase production and prepare Ukrainian companies to go global,” says Dmytro Kushneruk, Consul General of Ukraine in San Francisco.

The main stage of the event discussed the key challenges of the industry and the role of international partnerships in strengthening Ukraine’s defence potential. Leading experts, including diplomats, entrepreneurs and veterans, spoke at the event:

• Dmytro Kushneruk – Consul General of Ukraine in San Francisco;
• Gauthier Wasser, Executive Director of the Berkeley Fisher Centre for Business Analytics and UN Global Compact Ukraine;
• Anton Borzov – Ukrainian entrepreneur, partner at StratMinds VC, former lead designer at WhatsApp and Neeva, angel investor with a focus on Ukrainian startups;
• Junaid Islam is an OODA expert with 35 years of experience in secure communications and development of network protocols adopted by the US Department of Defence;
• Steve Taub – DARPA and VC expert who invests in start-ups in the energy, robotics and aerospace industries;
• Artur Kulian is a Ukrainian entrepreneur who heads AI/ML at Victoria, he has launched 65 startups, 7 of which were successfully sold;
• Kostyantyn Shysh is the founder and CEO of Traces, a company specialising in artificial intelligence for the security sector;
• Alexander Ravsky is a corporate attorney and founder of Nebo Legal, an expert in venture capital and M&A.

During the event, the launch of a new venture studio was announced.

“This event was the official public launch of Victoria, a venture studio that aims to support innovation and connect defence sectors through strategic partnerships and accelerated development,” says Nazar Hulyk, founder of Empat, co-founder of Victoria.

Four startups presented their own solutions for unmanned systems, anti-drone solutions and other defence innovations. Among the guests of the event were venture fund owners, investors and industry experts.

“We have seen incredible support from the international community, and this is just the beginning. We plan to continue to organise such events to further unite global innovation and Ukrainian defence,” says Artur Kulian, organiser and co-founder of Victoria.

Ukrainian Defence Tech Night: Protect & Innovate was the result of Victoria Studio’s cooperation with UkraineNow and other Ukrainian partners – the Centre for Innovation and Development of Defence Technologies of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and BRAVE1, the state technology accelerator of Ukraine, with the support of the Consulate General of Ukraine in San Francisco and the IT Ukraine Association.

This event was an important step in uniting the international community around the Ukrainian defence industry.