Brave1 has awarded more than 1,000 grants to Ukrainian defense developers
Since 2023, the Brave1 defense innovation cluster has provided UAH 6.2 billion in funding for the development of defense technologies.
Over this period, Ukrainian developers have received more than 1,000 grants, while Brave1 has played a pivotal role in the emergence of entire branches of defense technology:
interceptor drones, unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), short-range electronic warfare (EW) systems, automated turrets, and more.
The key objective of Brave1 grants is to increase the technology readiness level of products for the battlefield.
Brave1 accelerates defense innovation
According to a survey of defense tech manufacturers conducted as part of a study by the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO), Brave1 grants increase a product’s technology readiness level by an average of 1.7 points on the TRL scale (where 1 represents an idea and 9 represents a production-ready product).
At the same time, Brave1 grants are non-repayable and do not require recipients to subsequently transfer an ownership stake or intellectual property rights to the state. The survey found that 79% of respondents would not be able to find support comparable to that provided by Brave1.
In addition to financial support, Brave1 assists with testing, obtaining feedback from the military, building partnerships, and bringing technologies to the military.
Brave1 financial support models
Brave1 currently offers several financial support models for manufacturers.
Grant program
The program provides grants of up to UAH 500,000, UAH 2 million, UAH 4 million, and UAH 8 million, depending on the product’s technology readiness level.
Under Brave1’s standard grant program, 977 grants totaling UAH 2.3 billion have been awarded. The largest numbers of grants were awarded for the development of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) — 215, unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) — 199, and electronic warfare/signals and electronic intelligence (EW/SIGINT/ELINT) systems — 49.
Special grant program
The program provides grants of up to UAH 8 million in priority areas, regardless of the product’s technology readiness level.
A total of 20 special grants totaling UAH 145 million have already been awarded to develop products in the ‘Missiles’ and ‘Artificial Intelligence’ categories.
International grant programs
These are joint programs for developing defense innovations that are funded or co-funded by partners.
In particular, in 2026, 11 grants totaling UAH 81 million were awarded for the development of high-speed interceptor drones (up to 450 km/h) and radars under the EU4UA Defence Tech grant program, with EU support and in partnership with BRDO.
The program has a total budget of more than UAH 150 million and provides for around 40 grants for the best technological solutions.
Brave1 grant competitions
These grants support the development of breakthrough technologies in priority areas identified jointly with the Ministry of Defence, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the Defence Forces of Ukraine.
They provide for the development of products to specific technical and tactical specifications, with substantial funding potentially reaching tens or even hundreds of millions of hryvnias.
Through its grant competitions, Brave1 has supported 34 projects to develop cruise and ballistic missiles, surface-to-air missile systems, and autonomy technologies, as well as to expand explosives production. A total of UAH 3.7 billion has been provided to fund these projects.
How defense developers can apply for Brave1 grants
Information on current technology areas eligible for grants is available on the grants.brave1.tech website.
In particular, the updated priorities under Brave1’s grant and special grant programs currently include missile components, swarm systems for coordinated drone control, engineering UGVs and amphibious UGVs, personal trackers for service members, radars for detecting enemy infantry, lens and magnet manufacturing technologies, and more.
As previously reported, Ukraine and the Netherlands launched the Brave Netherlands project to fund advanced developments by Ukrainian and Dutch defense tech companies.
