As global tech markets navigate macroeconomic shifts and geopolitical uncertainty, Ukraine is positioning itself not just as a resilient IT hub, but as a primary testing ground for dual-use and frontier innovations. On May 28, Kyiv’s innovation park UNIT.City hosted the 2U Tech Forum – one of the country’s largest tech events of the year.
Organized by UNIT.City and the Diia.City Union, the forum convened over 2,000 participants, bridging the gap between state officials, international enterprises, venture capitalists, early-stage startups, and academic talent.
The single-day event featured high-stakes GovTech panels, live AI debates, a defense-tech showcase, and targeted startup pitch sessions featuring dozens of ecosystem leaders. The speaker lineup included Oksen Lisovyi, Oleksandr Tsybort, Oleksandr Zakusylo, Nataliia Denikeieva, Anastasiia Rostalna, Oleksandr Kurkin, Anna Bulakh, Serhiy Zhadan, Bill Reichert, Yevhen Kahanovskyi, Oleksandr Yefremov, Kateryna Frolova, Maryna Shananina, Klym Savchuk, Denys Kurbatov, Anastasiia Mishkina, Danylo Tsvok, Danyil Vakhovskyi, and Oleh Berestovyi, among others.
Driving the Digital Economy Across Four Specialized Stages
The 2U Tech Forum operated across four thematic stages – Main Stage, AI Stage, Defense Stage, and Startup Stage – each tackling critical verticals of Ukraine’s tech strategy moving toward 2030.
Main Stage: Global Integration Under Fire
The Main Stage centered on scaling the country’s digital state infrastructure and integrating international tech corporations into the local ecosystem. A cornerstone session, the Global Talks panel (“Why Global Tech Companies Choose Ukraine”), explored international market confidence. Global enterprise representatives discussed frameworks for operationalizing local innovations and scaling Ukrainian engineering talent despite ongoing wartime constraints.
AI Stage: Moving Beyond the Hype Cycle
Rather than focusing on theoretical AI trends, the AI Stage highlighted practical enterprise and state automation. The stage was co-moderated by an interactive AI assistant named Orion, which engaged with attendees and analyzed discussions in real time.
The track featured interactive formats like Human or AI? and the Battle of Intellects: Expert vs. Orion. In these sessions, human industry experts and the Orion AI proposed competing solutions to live business case studies, with the audience voting on the winner. The track underscored a central thesis: the immediate future of tech lies not in human-AI competition, but in optimized synergy.
Defense Tech and the Startup World Cup Ukraine
With hardware and software solutions being battle-tested daily, defense tech has emerged as the primary catalyst for Ukrainian engineering.
Defense Stage: Battle-Tested Scale
The Defense Stage focused on the logistics of scaling military-tech solutions, navigating defense export regulations, and deploying battlefield products. Discussions leaned heavily into real-time battlefield management systems and dual-use ecosystems.
During the Startup Showcase, defense-focused founders pitched before a specialized jury:
The Winner: Legit Force, a startup developing smart minefields capable of remote activation, deactivation, and real-time monitoring.
Special Format: The Defense MythBusters session, which deconstructed prevailing global misconceptions regarding modern electronic warfare and defense hardware deployment.
Startup Stage: The Road to Silicon Valley
The Startup Stage served as the arena for the national final of the Startup World Cup Ukraine. Founders pitched their products to international VCs and ecosystem partners for a chance to represent Ukraine at the Global Grand Finale in San Francisco and compete for a $1 million investment prize.
The Winner: Jetbeep, a developer of autonomous parcel locker technology designed to disrupt next-generation logistics and last-mile delivery.
The stage also hosted Crash Test: Investors vs. Startups, a transparent debate where venture capitalists and founders openly deconstructed real-world investment rejections, fund expectations, and current capital deployment rules in the high-risk landscape.
Community-Driven Innovation
Beyond the corporate tracks, the event highlighted the cultural fabric driving the tech community, featuring a keynote address by Serhiy Zhadan regarding the “Khartia” brigade, an acoustic performance by Bahroma, stand-up comedy by Vlad Halytskyi, and a closing DJ set.
The 2U Tech Forum 2026 illustrated that Ukraine is transitioning from a fast follower of global technology trends into an active architect of its own industrial paradigms—one capable of capturing international venture attention and exporting critical innovation.
Organizers and Partners
Organizers: UNIT.City, Diia.City Union
Government Partners: Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine; Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine
Ecosystem Partner: EUNITED Digital Hub
Startup Partner: EIT Community Hub in Ukraine
Event Partners: SharksCode, HPE operated by Sophela, Amazon Web Services, IT Specialist, ASBC | iSpace | Apple Premium Reseller, Beezi
Banking Partner: Crédit Agricole
Defense Partner: General Chereshnya
AI Partner: Amazinum
PR Partner: Hoshva PR
Charity Partner: Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation
Media Partners: LIGA.net, ua.news, dev.ua, Vector, AIN.UA, Europa Plus, SPEKA, Defender Media, TechUkraine, Scroll.media
Information Partners: 1991 Accelerator, Baza IT, yep! Accelerator, Kharkiv IT Cluster, Tech Force in UA, CASES, Civitta, TechUkraine, Elit-Web
Hospitality Partners: Morshynska, Monkey Shoulder, Hendrick’s, Glenfiddich
