Ukraine’s Brave1 accelerator launches UK Investment Tour

Ukraine’s Brave1 defence-tech accelerator announced plans on 23 April to hold a UK Investment Tour from 1-3 June. 

It follows the success of Brave1’s US roadshow, where “100+ American investors expressed interest in Ukrainian defence-tech companies”, the accelerator said.  

In an interview with DSEI Gateway, Artem Moroz, Head of Investment at Brave1, explained the purpose of the UK tour is to attract UK private investment for Ukraine’s growing defence industry, while also demonstrating its capabilities to key stakeholders, and preparing the companies for “global expansion” through potential joint venture partnerships.  

To deliver this, Brave1 will bring 10-15 Ukrainian defence companies to the UK, with specialisms ranging from AI to uncrewed systems and components.  

These include a mixture of startups and more mature companies, Moroz explained. 

What will the tour entail? 

Much like the US roadshow, the UK Investment Tour will place an emphasis on face-to-face meetings between Ukrainian companies and investors, or potential UK partners. 

The “cornerstone” of the tour, Moroz added, is an investment event on 2 June, where the entourage of companies will pitch their capabilities to private investors. 

The investment event is supported by some high-profile organisations, including: 

• Embassy of Ukraine to the UK
• London Stock Exchange Group
• TheCityUK, a UK financial sector membership body
• Palantir, the US tech company
• 1991 Ventures, a UK-based venture capital fund 

Legal support will also be present to explain to investors and potential partners how to structure deals, protect intellectual property, and repatriate capital.  

This is important, Moroz explained, as it helps to ease the concerns investors often have. 

Besides the 2 June event, the tour will involve visits to UK companies at their facilities. This is to primarily facilitate the exchange of UK defence industrial knowledge with Ukraine’s experience at scaling technology at pace, Moroz said. 

As part of this, Brave1 is seeking to understand whether any potential joint ventures could be possible with UK industry peers, as “at least one” emerged from the US roadshow. 

Moroz said that the UK lags behind other backers of Ukraine when it comes to industry partnerships, despite strong government-to-government support. 

This, he went on to say, is one of the reasons the UK was chosen as the second location for Brave1’s investment tour programme, with other European countries – such as Germany – significantly ahead when it comes to defence industrial partnerships. 

Looking to the future 

Moroz said that the tour offers “a small window into Ukraine’s defence ecosystem” and recommended that interested parties attend Brave1’s annual Defense Tech Valley event in September for greater insight. 

Going forward, Moroz told DSEI Gateway that Brave1 wants “to scale on the success” of the US roadshow and providing that “tangible results” are seen from the UK tour, it will likely expand in Europe and then globally.