Brave1 announces Battle Proven defence startup competition

The Brave1 cluster has announced the Battle Proven defence startup competition. Companies from around the world are invited to take part, with registration running until 15 June. The focus is on technologies that are already operating on the battlefield, or that will be used in combat positions within a year. After the deadline, the organisers will select 30 startups, which will be divided into three categories: Helping with the selection and evaluation will be the competition’s partners – service members of the Unmanned Systems Forces, the Third Army Corps, and the Second Corps of the National Guard Khartiia. The competition itself will take place at the Defense Tech Valley 2026 summit, to be held on 16–17 September in Lviv. There, the selected startups will have to present in English their company, the problem and solution, differences from competitors, go-to-market strategy, investment needs and the scenario for using the funds. Last year, four startups won the competition: in the Power Players category, the prize was awarded to Farsight Vision; the win in the Trail Blazers category was secured by Clarity; and in the Gamechangers category, Dwarf Engineering. An additional bonus was also taken by BlueBird Tech.