Washington, D.C., and London-based venture capital firm C5 Capital has partnered with Brave1, a Ukrainian defense technology accelerator, to support local defense tech startups in Ukraine.
Through the partnership, C5 Capital will provide investment and strategic guidance to help the new companies grow and scale, ultimately accelerating the development of technologies critical to building Ukraine’s defense capabilities. The specialist VC firm invests in cybersecurity, space and energy security.
“C5 Capital’s strategic partnership with Brave1 is focused on empowering Ukraine’s courageous founders, who are building innovative companies in defense of Ukraine and all of us,” said Andre Pienaar, founder of C5 Capital. “Today there is nothing more important than fighting with allies.”
Brave1 has been a driving force in Ukraine’s defense innovation sector. Since its inception in 2023, the tech cluster has evaluated over 2,600 defense-focused solutions. In September, it increased grant amounts for defense-tech developers. According to the Ministry of Digital Transformation, applications are now open for Ukrainian manufacturers who are cluster members with developments that have passed defense expertise and met specific scoring criteria.
The Brave1 cluster also organized the recently concluded Defense Tech Valley, an international summit to showcase Ukraine’s innovations and investment opportunities.
Entities, both private and within governments, have made moves to help build Ukraine’s homegrown capabilities to lift its defense industrial base since Russia’s full-scale offensive in early 2022.