A new Ukrainian fund, WildField Ventures, plans to invest $10-15 million in 20 dual-use startups. What areas is it interested in

A new investment fund, WildField Ventures, has launched in Ukraine and plans to invest $10-15 million in startups. It focuses on dual-use technologies and already has three companies in its portfolio, Defender Media has learned.

The fund invests in pre-seed and seed-stage companies and currently focuses on businesses with Ukrainian founders. At the same time, it is considering future investments in teams from allied countries.

To date, WildField Ventures has invested in DoD Solution, which is developing an autonomy platform for drones, and two other unnamed startups. In total, the investors plan to support 15-20 companies.

WildField says it finances technologies that underpin a product: software, sensors, navigation, communications and data processing systems, and other components.

The initial cheque is $250,000, and the most successful companies may receive up to $500,000. In addition to funding, the investors offer technical assessment of the product and mentoring support for founders.

“Teams gain access to people who apply such technologies in the military, work in defence technology and invest in it,” the press release says.

The fund does not fully disclose its team, adding only that it has almost 20 years of combined experience in investing. Maksym Zubenko, who also serves as CGO at Dwarf Engineering, has become Venture Partner. The fund’s advisers include representatives from Sine Engineering and FoxFour, a company developing autonomous drone systems.