Ukraine has launched the ZBROYA.Investments web portal, through which manufacturers of weapons, components, military software, and defense technologies can submit investment projects for review by the Ministry of Defense. Ukrainian media reported the launch on April 10, citing Deputy Defense Minister’s adviser Anna Hvozdiar. On the portal itself, the service is positioned as a consolidated channel for defense industry companies, where the Ministry of Defense team reviews applications and helps establish contact with potential investors.
The submission process is relatively straightforward. A company or team fills out a short form providing basic information about itself, a project description, and the amount of funding required. The Ministry of Defense team then reviews the application, assesses the project, and determines its priority level. If a project passes the selection stage and can be properly structured, the ministry helps search for investors through its partner network. At the same time, the portal explicitly warns that submitting an application does not guarantee funding, does not mean negotiations have begun, and creates no legal or investment obligations.
In practice, this is not just a platform for collecting applications, but an attempt to build a state-backed pipeline of investment-ready defense-tech projects. The platform targets military equipment manufacturers, defense-tech startups, dual-use companies, software developers, R&D teams, and suppliers of critical components. Among the areas already explicitly listed on the website are unmanned systems, ammunition, communications, optical and sensor systems, AI and computer vision, robotics, cybersecurity, battlefield software, electronic warfare, autonomous platforms, navigation, batteries, engines, and other defense-related components.
For applicants, another important point is that the portal discloses part of its data-handling rules. The privacy policy states that, at the application stage via Microsoft Forms, it collects the company name, contact details, project description, sector of activity, and required funding amount, but not financial statements or bank details. According to the platform, the data is stored on protected Microsoft 365 / Azure servers, and access is limited to authorized members of the Ministry of Defense team. At the same time, the submission terms explicitly state that transmitting materials through the website does not in itself create a trade secret regime, so applicants should carefully determine how much information to disclose.
Another important nuance is that the new investment portal is integrated into the broader ZBROYA digital ecosystem. On the Ministry of Defense services page, it appears alongside tools for obtaining critical-enterprise status, employee booking exemptions, concessional loans, leasing, grants for component manufacturers, a component library, the Zaliznyi Polihon testing ground, codification of defense products, and the Brave1 program. This suggests that the Ministry of Defense is gradually integrating not only procurement logic into a single system, but also instruments for industrial development, testing, and financing.
The launch of ZBROYA.Investments is directly linked to the financial bottleneck facing Ukraine’s defense industry. According to the Ministry of Defense, the sector’s production capacity grew from $1 billion in 2022 to $35 billion in 2025, the network of manufacturing sites expanded to around 900 enterprises, and more than 2,000 teams are now working around the sector to create technologies, components, and frontline solutions. At the same time, Hvozdiar emphasized back in November that domestic resources are insufficient to contract all of these capabilities, and that partner support is critical for further scaling. The state is also already developing concessional lending: over the course of a year, Ukrainian arms producers received 80 loans totaling nearly UAH 5 billion, another 16 applications worth around UAH 700 million were approved, and 52 applications worth more than UAH 4 billion were at various stages of review.
Against this backdrop, the new portal looks like an attempt to shift part of the financing burden from the state budget to private and partner capital. This fits logically into the Build with Ukraine model that Kyiv has been promoting over the past year. In February 2026, Quantum Frontline Industries, the first serial production site for Ukrainian unmanned systems in Europe, was presented in Germany; according to the Office of the President, Ukraine is expected to receive the first 10,000 drones produced at the facility this year. In March, Ukraine and Romania signed documents laying the groundwork for the production of Ukrainian weapons in Romania, primarily drones, potentially with the involvement of the SAFE mechanism. Earlier, in February, four Ukrainian defense manufacturers entered into partnerships with companies from Denmark, Finland, and Latvia under the Build with Ukraine model for approximately €800 million. In this context, ZBROYA.Investments could become an internal filter and preparation channel for projects later brought into such deals.
There are already signs of demand for Ukrainian defense tech. The Ministry of Defense reported that Brave1 Defense Tech Valley 2025 brought together more than 5,000 participants and generated over $100 million in attracted investment, while the 2026 event is scheduled to take place in Lviv on September 16–17 with a focus on the global scaling of Ukrainian solutions. At the same time, according to Forbes, more than 50 Ukrainian defense-tech startups raised over $105 million in 2025, accounting for roughly one-third of all early-stage defense investment in Europe. This does not yet solve the sector’s overall financing ceiling, but it does show that the window for private capital in Ukraine’s defense industry is already open.
For manufacturers themselves, the key takeaway is straightforward: the state is beginning not only to procure weapons, but also to institutionalize the process of preparing defense projects for engagement with investors. Whereas access to capital previously often depended on informal contacts, individual forums, or international partnerships, there is now a separate official channel through which companies can submit a structured funding request, receive expert feedback, gain access to pitch sessions, and enter the Ministry of Defense’s partner network.
It is also worth noting separately that InVenture provides military-tech projects with free pro bono support in attracting investment. According to the InVenture website, since 2022 the platform has been helping defense-innovation teams structure their investment proposition, formulate a value proposition for investors, prepare presentation materials, and promote projects through the InVenture portal, investment magazine, thematic digests, and investor database. For teams that need not only to apply through a state channel but also to package a project effectively for the private market, this may become an additional route to capital.
