Norwegian fund Gardar plans to invest €100m in Ukrainian defence tech. How the project emerged — and what its founders have planned

A Norwegian fund named Gardar has recently been announced – a new venture focused on investments in Ukrainian defence tech. Its founders have already raised €80m and plan to increase that figure to €100m.

Gardar’s managing partner, Erlend Prestgard, explains that the fund grew out of another initiative – the Munkene AS consortium, which had already been active in Ukraine and had financed several local companies. Defender Media spoke with him about Gardar’s history and plans, and also asked the team at Pai Defence startup – Munkene AS’s first investment in Ukraine – about their experience working with the fund’s founders.

What is known about the fund and which areas interest it

The Gardar fund grew out of Munkene – a non-profit initiative through which Norwegian businessmen contributed their knowledge and money to benefit Ukraine’s defence sector. It was founded by alumni of the Norwegian Armed Forces’ elite Russian language and area studies. This group of former coursemates had been closely connected with Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion.

Over the past year, the team screened more than 150 companies, met with a hundred of them and invested in four: Buntar Aerospace, Lazr, Pai Defence and one unnamed manufacturer. “When the investors saw the quality of the companies, they said it was time to expand this initiative, create a fully fledged fund and work on it full-time,” Prestgard says.

He also adds that a fifth investment is already planned – it was negotiated by the Munkene team, but it will be made on behalf of Gardar. However, neither the company’s name nor its area of work is being disclosed. Munkene, meanwhile, will continue operating as an initiative in parallel with the fund.

So far, Gardar has raised €80m of the planned €100m. The fund is backed by more than 30 Norwegian family offices and companies. Erlend Prestgard became managing partner, with Torkel Engeness, Birger Steen and Ivar Søvold serving as advisers. Gardar operates within the regulated venture platform Sandwater.

The fund will invest in early-stage companies. Erlend Prestgard says that their interests have so far included radio-frequency and laser-based counter-drone systems, ISR and artificial intelligence for combat operations.

“In general, we look for companies that try to solve really hard problems, hard enough that they endure as challenges and solutions over time. The difficulty of the problem should ideally give the company long-term impact,” Prestgard explains.

What Pai Defence team says about their Norwegian investors

Pai Defence founders Tonia Zakorchemna and Dmytro Pulmanovskyi say their company became Munkene’s first investment in Ukraine. The startup is building a system for detecting airborne threats at the tactical and operational levels. Their product can detect FPVs, Mavic, Autel, and fixed-wing drones. The system underwent combat testing in December last year and is currently preparing for a new test.

The first to contact the team was Torkel Engeness, who took an interest in the startup’s development and arranged several calls with investors. Ahead of a potential deal, the technology was reviewed by scientists from Norwegian universities, and Engeness himself travelled to Donbas to meet Pulmanovskyi and observe the military’s work.

For subsequent investments, the investors also visited a Ukrainian testing ground to observe the products in operation and to consult with Pai Defence and the military. Munkene AS later joined Buntar Aerospace’s $10.4m seed investment round.

Zakorchemna and Pulmanovskyi speak positively overall about working with Munkene AS, from which Gardar grew. In particular, they note that it helps not only with money: “We were able to share that we lacked expertise in the ML field. After that, they found us an expert from their network. He now advises us and helps in this area.”

Pai Defence’s co-founders call this fund one of the most pro-Ukrainian. The name Gardar itself comes from the word “Garðaríki” – an Old Norse term used to denote Kyivan Rus. “The name also carries a deeper linguistic resonance. The Old Norse garðr and the Slavic gorod share a common ancient root, both meaning enclosure or fortified place. Through this fund, we aim to honour that history: helping to build the kind of strong fence that protects freedom and democracy,” the fund says.