Dominique Piotet: UPTF is ready to invest in Ukrainian dual-use startups

At the end of September, the Ukraine Phoenix Tech Fund (UPTF) was launched in Ukraine – a €50 million venture fund that will invest exclusively in Ukrainian tech startups. In a brief interview with Defender Media, the fund’s managing partner, Dominique Piotet, stated that UPTF is prepared to invest in dual-use technologies that can be utilised by the military. He also talked about what dual-use technologies the fund is interested in and when to expect the first deals involving dual-use startups.

What is UPTF, and who is Dominique Piotet

According to Managing Partners Dominique Piotet and Charles Whitehead, UPTF will be the first institutionally backed venture capital fund dedicated exclusively to Ukrainian tech startups. 

The UPTF is backed by three leading institutions – the European Investment Bank, Bpifrance, and Proparco, as well as by tech entrepreneur Henri Seydoux, founder of Parrot, a pioneering UAV company.

Dominique Piotet is not a stranger in Ukraine – he’s well-known as a former CEO of UNIT.City, Ukraine’s first innovation park.

Defender Media: What gap in the Ukrainian venture ecosystem are you aiming to fill? What makes UPTF different or special?

Dominique Piotet: We are trying to fill the gap between very early stages, like pre-seed — today occupied mostly by angel investors and USF — and Series A and above, which is filled by players like Horizon Capital and foreign investors. Essentially, in the seed/pre-seed space, we are addressing what is often called the “valley of death,” where there is almost no one active in Ukraine. This is what makes us special. We will be the largest pre-seed/seed fund in Ukraine by far, with €50 million, making more than 50 investments, which will be very significant.

What is your average ticket size for a dual-use startup? Would it differ from a purely civilian venture?

No, it will not differ from the others. Our dual-use ticket size will go, like for the others, from €250K for very early-stage/pre-seed to €2 million when we do follow-ons. Same as with a civilian venture—no difference.

Which area of Defence Tech do you see as the most promising for your fund?

We are very agnostic, as in everything we do with the fund. We like both software and hardware. However, we recognise that hardware is more expensive, especially in the R&D phase. We suspect the same will be true with Defence Tech. With our average ticket size, we don’t believe we’ll be able to do much in hardware-related projects, so we are probably more focused on software-related Defence Tech. That said, this is still very hypothetical at this stage.

When will you be ready to announce your first investment in dual-use Ukrainian startups?

We will start announcing our first investments in general in December. However, with dual-use technologies, we go through a very deep and thorough due diligence process, so we probably won’t be able to announce our first dual-use startup investment before the beginning of next year. But you never know.

Are you planning to work directly with the Ministry of Defence or more with private sector defence companies?

We are ready to work with everyone. We are partnering with public authorities as well as with private bodies, so for us it doesn’t matter. We are close to all stakeholders. As you may recall, Chuck Whitehead is part of the board of Brave1, so we are already very close to everyone.

Will UPTF support startups beyond just funding? Mentorship, connections, market access?

Yes, absolutely. First, we will support them even before funding. As you may recall, we are partnering with eō Business Incubators, a non-profit founded by my co-founder, Chuck Whitehead. Many — though not all — of our startups will go through eō before funding, ensuring they receive support early on.

Then, after funding, we have a network of mentors who are compensated through part of the carry paid by the fund. And of course, connections and market access are key. This is why we are both European and American, which is also a very important aspect of the fund. For us, this is critical, especially at the early stage: you really need to be hands-on with your startups and portfolio companies.