UK-Ukraine TechExchange

Fantastic morning spent discussing all things #DefenceTech at UK-Ukraine TechExchange's #defence #investor breakfast, hosted in collaboration with NOTWICS, Digital Catapult and FieldHouse! The expert panel, moderated by NOTWICS' Founder and CEO, 🦖 Christopher Lowe, featured Karl Eze, co-founder and CEO of Point Zenith, William McManners, Managing Partner at MD One Ventures and Steven Wood, Head of Industry Practice (Aerospace, Defence & Security) at Digital Catapult. Their primary focus was key 2024 DefenceTech trends and predictions for the year ahead ⏭️ Some key takeaways: ⚡ The importance of an increased public #DefenceBudget lies not in the final percentage but in the timeline for implementation. ⚡ The defence threats of the future will come in many different forms, but #Europe must rise to the challenge of defending itself from whatever new threats emerge. ⚡ We've seen a cultural shift this year in the way that defence #innovation is perceived, with private investors exploring new ways to help defence #startups cross the valley of death. ⚡ #Ukraine continues to generate some of the most exciting DefenceTech solutions in the world, but it remains to be seen how this will evolve in 2025 as the global political landscape is repositioned. Thank you to TechExchange's Founder and Principal, Andriy Dovbenko and 🦖 Christopher Lowe, for the opportunity to collaborate on such an exciting event, to Digital Catapult for the excellent venue, to the panellists and to all those who attended. #Technology #Event #Networking

Yaroslav Filimonov, CEO of Kvertus, which is part of the UK-Ukraine TechExchange cohort, spoke with Shashank Joshi from The Economist on how AI-guided #drones are successfully overriding typical #electronicwarfare techniques. We’ve seen a rapid evolution of drone #innovation over the course of the war in #Ukraine, and experts are now turning to #AI to solve a plethora of problems associated with drone deployment. AI-guided drones have a higher hit rate than manually driven ones, with the ability to target a specific area with more accuracy. Whilst there will always be a human element to deploying these drones, using AI in this way increases #efficiency. Yaroslav also reflected on how far drone capabilities have come. First-person-drones (#FPVs) that could only travel for 10km can now cover distances up to 30km due to the successful development of #communication capabilities. FPV drones also serve multiple purposes, with ‘interceptor’ FPV drones proving highly successful in defeating russian drones. Read the full piece here: https://bit.ly/4illp2X

The nature of war is rapidly evolving, a new reality for which Western nations remain wholly unprepared. The accessibility and affordability of #drones have ushered in a new global aerial threat, where these systems could be used to attack political rallies, #CriticalInfrastructure, stadiums, festivals, concerts or bustling transport hubs in major cities across #Europe and the #US. #Ukraine has become accustomed to this reality, adapting its #technology and developing #DroneSuppression solutions to counteract this threat. Companies like Kvertus, whose technology is tested on the battlefield day in and day out, are constantly evolving to ensure that detection and suppression remain effective. Yaroslav Filimonov Serhii Skoryk Andrii Znaichenko Western nations now have the opportunity to benefit from Ukraine’s expertise in #ElectronicWarfare to protect themselves from the growing risk of weaponised drone swarms. This will only be possible if export bans are lifted in Ukraine, which would also help generate essential revenue to continue developing this life-saving technology and #rebuild Ukraine’s economy. The West cannot continue to be two steps behind in protecting its cities from FPV drone attacks. Instead, it must take action today to begin implementing anti-drone technologies. Read my full article in Fortune, here:

The nature of war is rapidly evolving, a new reality for which Western nations remain wholly unprepared. The accessibility and affordability of #drones have ushered in a new global aerial threat, where these systems could be used to attack political rallies, #CriticalInfrastructure, stadiums, festivals, concerts or bustling transport hubs in major cities across #Europe and the #US. #Ukraine has become accustomed to this reality, adapting its #technology and developing #DroneSuppression solutions to counteract this threat. Companies like Kvertus, whose technology is tested on the battlefield day in and day out, are constantly evolving to ensure that detection and suppression remain effective. Yaroslav Filimonov Serhii Skoryk Andrii Znaichenko Western nations now have the opportunity to benefit from Ukraine’s expertise in #ElectronicWarfare to protect themselves from the growing risk of weaponised drone swarms. This will only be possible if export bans are lifted in Ukraine, which would also help generate essential revenue to continue developing this life-saving technology and #rebuild Ukraine’s economy. The West cannot continue to be two steps behind in protecting its cities from FPV drone attacks. Instead, it must take action today to begin implementing anti-drone technologies. Read my full article in Fortune, here:

At UK-Ukraine TechExchange’s Demining Dinner yesterday evening at Home Grown Club, we gathered a group of experts - from #entrepreneurs to #journalists to industry stakeholders, to discuss the humanitarian crisis #Ukraine is currently facing. The country must undertake the massive task to #demine the vast swathes of land littered with landmines, IEDs, and unexploded munitions. The question was rightly posed of why we should be discussing #demining now, when the war is still ongoing and Ukraine’s priority continues to be defending itself - do unexploded landmines not act as a deterrent to further Russian advances? Local communities continue to live with the threat of Russia’s landmines buried in the soil, while land rendered unusable for #agricultural purposes does incalculable damage to Ukraine’s people and economy and the world more widely. Many nations are reliant on Ukraine, and we’ve seen food shortages and sharp price increases (and on fuel too). This will unfortunately lead to further suffering far beyond the brutality of the war itself. It is, therefore, completely inescapable that to rebuild post-war, Ukraine will need to demine its land. Time lost today, or in the near future will make the job of clearance much harder as crops and trees will begin to conceal the dangers beneath. A process which we may initially assume is premature to begin now is, in reality, far more urgent. We discussed the role of #technology and its ability to provide part of the solution: from the data required to map and tackle the problem, to the #innovation that could aid detection and clearance. We also touched upon the importance of cross-sector #collaboration and greater access to #funding to expedite the creation and growth of this life-saving technology. Thank you to Home Grown Club and our guests for their thoughtful insights and commitment to finding solutions. I look forward to continuing these discussions. James Gayner MBE Plexal Arpana Gandhi Disarmco Jonathan Beale BBC News Tim Little BAE Systems Digital Intelligence Dr Tobias Stone Resilience Conference David Hewitson Fenix Insight Ltd Åsa Gilbert SafeLane Global Tom L. Prevail Partners Limited Neil Robertson Ian Wallis FieldHouse Associates Daria Partas

The UK has partnered to launch a major international coalition aimed at boosting Ukraine's defence capabilities. This initiative will bring together aerospace and defence organisations from the UK, international partners, and Ukrainian companies at the Ukrainian Drone Defence Forum, "Drones: Delivering Victory," hosted by Stephen Butler and Strategy Council on May 21st at the Royal United Services Institute in London. We are excited to be a part of this crucial initiative! Under this coalition, key players from the global UAV industry will explore collaborative opportunities to support Ukraine's defence efforts. On behalf of Skyeton, Chris Baxter will join the panel discussion on partnership opportunities with Ukrainian drone companies, alongside other leading manufacturers of unmanned aerial vehicles. We would like to extend our gratitude to UK-Ukraine TechExchange for helping us be a part of this initiative. We're looking forward to joining forces with industry leaders to explore opportunities to strengthen Ukraine's defence. #defencetech #Skyeton

When the war broke out in 2022, it quickly became clear that technological #innovation would hold the key to Ukraine’s survival. While I had been living in the UK since 2018, I knew I could find a way to ensure that my presence in the UK #technology ecosystem could provide vital support for #Ukraine. I set out to provide a bridge between the UK and Ukraine to foster #collaboration, support, #investment and real-world testing opportunities for the companies that could save lives in Ukraine and help it rebuild in the future.  So, last month we launched UK-Ukraine TechExchange, the non-profit programme that provides a platform for innovative UK and Ukrainian #startups that will make a difference. We are already working with a number of startups developing crucial #defence and #agricultural technology. Read my full piece in Startups.co.uk to find out more.  https://bit.ly/3IJqWjq #DefenceTech #AgriTech 

Last night we co-hosted a #defencetech event with UK-Ukraine TechExchange and NOTWICS at Goldman Sachs 💪 Firstly, five UK and #Ukrainian defencetech #startups had six minutes each to pitch to the room full of #investors, industry professionals and other #entrepreneurs. We heard Maksym Sich 🇺🇦 from Aegiq, Leon Marsh from Bodytrak®, Dr Guido A. I. Monterzino from Greenjets, Nikita Stepura from Skyeton, and Simon Muderack from Windracers about their dual purpose #technology, #funding story to date and future trajectory. Then, 🦖 Christopher Lowe moderated a panel between James Gayner MBE, Director of Defence at Plexal, Simon Godfrey, Chair of the techUK Public Sector Committee, and Justin Hedges OBE, Chair of Prevail Partners Limited. They discussed the current high electronic warfare environment, #AI, #procurement, and why testing tech in Ukraine is key for #investment. Thank you to James Westropp, Goldman Sachs, Andriy Dovbenko, Daria Partas, UK-Ukraine TechExchange, 🦖 Christopher Lowe, NOTWICS, Neil Robertson, Ian Wallis, Joe Doyle, Damilola Omotoso, Niamh Chapman, the speakers, and all those who joined us to make this great event possible. #Drones #Engines #Founder #Funding #Insight #Networking #Quantum #Wearabletech