UForce, a defense technology company founded by former Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksii Honcharuk and People.ai founder Oleg Rogynskyy, has raised $50 million in a Seed funding round led by venture firms Shield Capital and Lakestar. Ballistic Ventures was also mentioned among the investors. According to the press release, the company has reached unicorn status with a valuation exceeding $1 billion.
UForce was registered in the United Kingdom in January 2025 with the goal of consolidating and scaling the most combat-proven Ukrainian autonomous systems. The company positions itself as a defense-technology operating platform that delivers real battlefield solutions to allies facing security and stability threats. The company’s board includes Ben Wallace, former UK Secretary of State for Defence, who played a key role in military support for Ukraine and in shaping NATO’s approach to modern warfare.
The founders emphasize that UForce differs from traditional defense companies by focusing on systems proven in real combat conditions, rather than technologies demonstrated only in presentations or theoretical concepts.
The company describes its business model as Neoprime: a defense company that signs a direct contract with a government customer (for example, a Ministry of Defense) to deliver a complete combat system “turnkey.” After securing such contracts, the company can deploy its own products and engage subcontractors to assemble integrated combat systems.
Key technologies and products developed by UForce and its partners
- Magura — a family of unmanned surface vessels (USVs) that have struck Russian naval vessels and became the first USVs in history to shoot down piloted helicopters and fighter jets using integrated weapons.
- Mykola-3 — an unmanned surface vessel with confirmed successful strikes on military ships.
- Nemesis — a series of medium and heavy strike multirotor platforms, one of the most widely deployed bomber drones.
- R18 — a Ukrainian bomber drone developed by FRDM.
- R34 and R36 — a new generation and evolution of the R18 platform, also developed by FRDM.
- Fury (Lyut 2) — a ground combat robotic platform designed to strike stationary and moving ground targets, produced by UGV Robotics.
- D21 — a transport ground robotic platform developed by FRDM.
- D12 and D14 — a family of remotely operated robotic weapon turrets designed for small arms and other weapon systems, developed by FRDM.
- Predator — an autonomous/remote-controlled gyrostabilized combat system designed to engage ground, surface, and aerial targets while moving, developed by UGV Robotics.
- Sunray – Laser cUAS — laser counter-drone systems.
- Ground Control — software for controlling unmanned and autonomous systems, including coordinated and combat operations.
- SICH — a battlefield and resource management system.
As a result, UForce represents a unique Ukrainian defense startup that integrates combat-tested autonomous systems with advanced software solutions designed for export and use by Ukraine’s allies, while already achieving unicorn status with a valuation exceeding $1 billion.
