Brave1 Grants 2026: All Programmes for Defence Tech Developers

Ukrainian defence tech developers can receive between UAH 500,000 and UAH 8 million for a single development, and up to UAH 900 million through competitions tied to specific technical requirements. Brave1 grants in 2026 are four separate instruments inside one programme, each running on its own rules.

In June 2026 the Supervisory Board of the Innovation Development Fund approved an updated version of the grant programme. Together with the Defence Forces it defined 53 new technological priorities, cut the time from application to disbursement from three months to roughly six weeks, and moved the legal paperwork to a later stage, after the development itself receives preliminary approval.

One date deserves separate attention, 9 September 2026. Until then Brave1 accepts requests to review the terms of its new grant competitions, and that instrument carries by far the largest funding volume in the whole programme.

Who provides the money and where applications go

Brave1 is a state defence tech cluster launched in 2023 on the initiative of the Ministry of Digital Transformation. In two years it became the largest angel investor for defence technologies in Ukraine, with grants exceeding USD 50 million. The cluster today holds over 2,500 registered companies and more than 5,000 registered developments.

The cluster and the fund are different entities. Brave1 defines technological priorities together with the Defence Forces and supports the developer. The money comes from the Innovation Development Fund, and its Supervisory Board takes the funding decision. That is why applications are submitted not on the Brave1 website but through the Ukrainian Startup Fund portal.

Beyond money, the cluster offers what often matters more for a defence product: access to testing under the Test in Ukraine programme, engineering and military expertise, codification to NATO standards, and support in getting the technology adopted by the forces.

Brave1 grants: four instruments, which one to choose

The first step before applying is to work out which instrument your development belongs to. The amount, the document package, the timeline and even the decision-making body all depend on that answer.

The core Brave1 Grant Programme

The main and most accessible instrument. It covers every key technological direction, and the developer picks the grant size according to the current state of the development and the result they commit to:

• up to UAH 500,000, idea validation and preliminary research;
• up to UAH 2 million, building a laboratory sample;
• up to UAH 4 million, building a prototype and running range trials;
• up to UAH 8 million, building a finished product and testing it in combat conditions.

Testing is an obligation, not a bonus. A UAH 4 million grant comes with range trials, a UAH 8 million grant with combat testing. If the workplan and the budget say nothing about it, there is a visible gap between the amount requested and the result promised.

Official documents: Regulation on the Brave1 Grant Programme and the Instruction on submitting documents.

Special grant programmes: missiles and artificial intelligence

Focused support for breakthrough ideas in narrow directions. Here a team can receive up to UAH 8 million regardless of readiness level, and the expected result is a working prototype or a higher TRL. Selection runs through several stages and involves both engineers and military specialists.

Legally this is not one programme but two. The portal runs two separate Regulations with different spending caps and different application packages:

• Special programme for missile development, submitted under the Special Strike Assets section. Only companies apply, sole traders are excluded, and the cap is two grants per year.
• Special programme for artificial intelligence technologies, submitted under the Brave1 AI section. Open to sole traders as well, with a cap of UAH 30 million per year.

The missile track carries external expertise. The General Staff of the Armed Forces scores the application on three criteria, innovation, technical level and readiness, up to 9 points each. Low scores mean rejection before the Supervisory Board ever sees the file.

BraveTech EU: three tracks instead of one

The Brave1 special grant programme is one of three tracks inside the umbrella BraveTech EU programme, with a combined budget above EUR 100 million. On the EU side it is coordinated by DG DEFIS and the European Defence Agency, on the Ukrainian side by the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the Ministry of Defence.

DefTech Forges is the track most often overlooked. It is a series of multi-day technology challenges where 40 companies are selected to test their technologies at military facilities and collect direct feedback from end users. Six winners receive EUR 120,000 each, and successful delivery opens the path to trials with the European Defence Agency and additional funding of up to EUR 750,000. Ukrainian companies take part on equal terms with European ones.

Brave Competitions: the largest budgets and the strictest terms

Targeted funding for developing or scaling a technology against a specific technical assignment, with mandatory compliance to approved requirements and standards. The grant size follows the project budget and can reach UAH 900 million.

The terms stay closed until an NDA is signed. To even read the details, a developer submits a request, passes a compliance procedure and signs a non-disclosure agreement. Applications are assessed by the governing body of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and a competition commission, with the final decision taken by the Supervisory Board of the Fund.

Brave1 EU4UA Defence Tech: grants for components

A joint programme of Brave1 and the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO) with European Union support, carrying a total fund of EUR 3.3 million. It runs in rounds, and the topic changes each time: the first covered high-speed interceptors and radar systems, the third covered components for unmanned systems.

Round three terms: propellers, high-density battery packs, power electronics and frames, TRL 3 to 4 with a requirement to raise it by at least one level, up to EUR 33,000 per team, 20 winning teams. Applications ran from 8 July to 21 August 2026 and the round is now closed.

The logic behind the programme is localising the component base. Ukraine and the EU are reducing dependence on imported parts to cut the time spent on logistics and product rework. Component manufacturers should watch for the next round announcement in the EU4UA Defence Tech section of the application portal.

Who can apply and who cannot

An applicant has to meet all of the following conditions at once:

• registered in Ukraine as a legal entity or a sole trader in due order;
• not a state or municipal enterprise, an NGO or a charitable organisation;
• holds a development that matches the Brave1 technological priorities, or has confirmation of priority status from the General Staff of the Armed Forces;
• has not exhausted the annual cap of UAH 30 million and 5 grants;
• prepared to work with cashless payments and to document every single expense.

The instrument is closed to civil society organisations. This is where Brave1 differs from most donor programmes Ukrainian NGOs are used to. Non-profit structures cannot apply under the current version of the Regulation, no matter how strong the development is.

Technological priorities and how to read them

The core programme list covers ten directions: missile systems, artificial intelligence, unmanned aerial vehicles, enabling technologies, ground robotic systems, maritime systems, future technologies, munitions, electronic warfare and reconnaissance, and components.

Every priority comes with hard numbers. A digital video system is specified with a range from 40 km and a price below USD 140 per air unit. High-speed interceptor drones are specified above 450 km/h. Thermal imagers require a matrix resolution of at least 640×480. An application where the development roughly fits the direction but falls short of the stated figures stops at the very first check.

The Other category costs time. If your development is absent from the list, you can still apply, and the General Staff confirms its priority status. The trade-off is that compliance under this route takes seven working days instead of two.

What the application must contain

The package depends on the programme:

• Grant Programme: the form in Ukrainian, information on the applicant and the team, a description of the development, photographs of it, a consolidated cost estimate and a video presentation.
• Missile programme: the form in Ukrainian, documents confirming the readiness level, a cost estimate and a presentation.
• Artificial intelligence programme: the form in Ukrainian, documents confirming TRL, a cost estimate and a pitch deck.

Legal documents come later. This is the key change in the updated version: the extract from the state register, the certificate of no tax debt and the letter on the absence of wage arrears are collected only after the development receives preliminary approval. The tax debt certificate is valid for just 10 calendar days from the date of issue, so ordering it in advance makes no sense.

What the grant money can cover

This is where the programmes diverge most sharply. A budget built under the rules of one programme will not pass compliance under another.

The pay ceiling is identical everywhere. Up to UAH 120,000 per person per month, inclusive of unified social contribution, personal income tax and the military levy.

Prohibited costs are identical too. Business trips, marketing, office and premises rent, furniture, office and household appliances, mobile phones, fuel and lubricants, vehicles, renovation works. Weapons cannot be purchased, with the exception of mock-ups and prototypes.

Double funding is prohibited. Costs already covered by another programme cannot be claimed. This matters for teams running European applications in parallel: duplicating a single cost item is grounds for returning the grant.

How to submit an application

The mechanics are identical across programmes and differ only in the portal menu section:

1. Log in to your account on the Ukrainian Startup Fund platform.
2. Choose the relevant section in the left-hand menu: Brave1, Brave1 AI, Special Strike Assets, or Brave1 EU4UA Defence Tech.
3. Click Apply and, where applicable, select the available grant amount.
4. Fill in every mandatory field, including the cost estimate.
5. Sign the application with a qualified electronic signature.

Application status is tracked in the personal account on the web portal.

Review stages and real timelines

The core grant programme runs four stages: a compliance check against the Regulation, a pitch to the Supervisory Board for amounts above UAH 2,000,001, the Supervisory Board decision, and verification of the full document package followed by contract signing.

Five days to fix an application means five days. At the compliance stage a file can be returned for revision, and the clock runs in calendar days, weekends included. If the issues are not resolved, the application is rejected automatically, with no reminder. Four revisions is the maximum, after which the file is closed for good.

Special programmes add stages. The missile track inserts defence expertise by the General Staff and an expert assessment by Brave1, where three experts score the impact of the grant on the development and 6 points is the passing minimum. In the artificial intelligence programme the compliance check is split into a substantive block of about two working days and a financial block of about three.

Reporting, audit and grounds for returning the grant

After each reporting period the recipient submits two reports: a financial one on a cash basis, and a report on development results, meaning product monitoring. Grants between UAH 4 and 8 million require an audit report.

Cash payments are not accepted at all. Every expense has to be cashless and supported by documents.

The grant has to be returned if funds were used outside their intended purpose, the application contained inaccurate information, caps or contract terms were breached, or supporting documents and reports are missing.

Who the programme suits and who it does not

Brave1 is an instrument for commercial developers of defence technologies registered in Ukraine, with a concrete technical result at the end and the capacity to work under a strict reporting regime.

The programme will not suit civil society organisations, state and municipal enterprises, teams without Ukrainian registration, or anyone seeking research funding without applied military use. Research groups are better served by Horizon Europe, EIC Pathfinder and EIC Transition, which work with different types of applicants.

The two worlds are not mutually exclusive. A Ukrainian company can develop its component base on a Brave1 grant and take part in a European consortium in parallel, provided the costs are not duplicated.

Primary sources and documents

• Brave1 grant programmes, the full list of technological priorities with technical requirements, current competitions and FAQ.
• Application portal, registration, submission and status tracking.
• Brave1 cluster, registering a development and accessing expertise and testing.
• BraveTech EU, the three tracks of the joint EU and Ukraine programme.
• DefTech Forges, applications for technology challenges with grants up to EUR 120,000.
• Regulation on the Brave1 Grant Programme.
• Regulation of the special programme for missile development.
• Regulation of the special programme for artificial intelligence technologies.
• Instruction on submitting documents.