Defence tech startup Zmiyar takes second place at IT Arena Startup Competition 2026

Ukrainian defence tech startup Zmiyar took second place in the IT Arena Startup Competition 2026 and received $20,000, according to the Lviv IT Cluster.

Zmiyar is developing a networked command-and-control system for ‘smart’ minefields. It enables the remote activation and deactivation of mines, real-time status monitoring and the display of their locations on a digital map.

Energy tech startup Sirocco Energy took first place and received $30,000. Third place and $10,000 went to bionic prosthetics developer Versi Bionics.

The total prize pool for the IT Arena Startup Competition 2026 was $65,000. Forty teams working in defence tech, AI, robotics, energy, medicine, fintech, cybersecurity and enterprise software were selected for the semi-finals. No separate competition for defence teams was held this year.

Defender also reported yesterday that former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov announced the launch of the Army of Robots at Lviv IT Arena 2026. The project will bring together a venture fund investing in tech teams, Fedorov’s own defence tech companies and an R&D unit “focused on continuously finding, developing and testing new solutions”.