Ukraine and Norway launch €20 million “Brave-Norway” defence innovation programme

Oslo/Kyiv, 9 October 2025. Ukraine and Norway have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in defence innovation to launch Brave-Norway, a joint programme with a preliminary budget of €20 million aimed at accelerating battlefield-relevant technologies.

What the programme includes

Brave-Norway focuses on:

• Grant support for startups building solutions in unmanned systems and other modern defence technologies;
  
  
• Joint hackathons to generate practical solutions for the battlefield;
  
  
• Platforms to integrate research institutions and speed up technological development. en.ain.ua

Implementation and funding

On Ukraine’s side, the programme will be implemented by the Brave1 defence innovation cluster. Norway will allocate €10 million through Ukraine’s Innovation Development Fund to provide grants for defence-tech “game-changers,” tested directly in Ukraine. en.ain.ua+2Brave1+2

Why it matters

Brave-Norway strengthens a growing ecosystem that connects startups, R&D institutions, and defence stakeholders across Norway and Ukraine, complementing broader Norwegian support to Ukraine’s defence sector and Ukraine’s push to industrialise innovation at scale. Regjeringen.no+1

Photo credit: ain.ua; Fedorov Telegram channel
Sources: AIN (English edition); announcement via Fedorov’s Telegram/official channels. 

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