BRAVE1, a defense tech coordination platform, has awarded 84 defense tech grants worth $1.53 million. The platform plans to finance Ukrainian startups with more than $2 million by the end of 2023. The budget for 2024 reaches more than $39 million, according Nataliia Kushnerska, Project Lead at BRAVE1, — AIN.Capital reports.
- Since the launch of the platform, Brave1 has received over 780 applications from Ukrainian startups, and up to 420 of them already passed expertise by General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
- Over 365 developments have received BRV1 (medium & high estimation).
- So far in 2023, the cluster has awarded 84 grants worth $1.53 million. For comparison, in August this year, only 15 startups were financed, receiving a total of $225,000 in grants.
- Another 49 solutions worth $745,000 are at the stage of signing contracts.
- Furthermore, the first 4 Ukrainian solutions from the BRAVE1 ecosystem (including ”ShaBlya” by Roboneers) received approval from the MoD to put on service for defense forces.
For 2024, the state budget allocated around $39 million (UAH 1.5 billion) to finance the development of BRAVE1. The amount of grants will also be increased. As of the end of autumn 2023, an average grant is about $5,000-25,000, in 2024, grants will reach the amounts of $50,000, $100,000, and $250,000.
Read more about Ukrainian military tech development: Financial Times: Ukraine Tech Sector Goes to War