How Drill plans to use its $100,000 investment: new courses and B2B platform in the works

In April, Ukrainian startup Drill, which is developing an application for training in the security and defence sector, announced that it had secured $100,000 in investment. Defender spoke with the project team about the details of the funding round and their future plans.

What is DrillApp?

The founders of Drill are Ukrainian servicemen Ihor S., a soldier in the special forces, and Oleksandr Gusarov, an officer in the Azov unit. Following the full-scale invasion, they joined the Defence Forces. Alongside their military service, they began developing a next-generation military education system. This concept evolved into DrillApp, a mobile application for military training, which now has over 200,000 users — more than 50,000 of them active-duty personnel.

At present, the application offers over 130 interactive lessons covering the use of various weapon types and tactical medicine. The project generates revenue through a monthly subscription model, with pricing dependent on the user’s country. According to the team, DrillApp is already undergoing trials within NATO structures, and is cooperating with PSD Info, UkrArmor, Utactic, as well as instructors from Canada, Poland and Estonia. It is also receiving localisation requests from Israel and the United States.

How will the investment be used?

The startup has received $100,000 in pre-seed funding from a private investor — a public figure who has chosen to remain anonymous.

Following the investment, the team has launched several new initiatives. The first is a course on FPV drones. According to the developers, it will cover assembly, configuration, flight operations, tactical deployment and safe retrieval of FPV drones. The first lesson is already available on the platform.

The Drill team, in collaboration with legal experts, has also developed a course on international humanitarian law. Another upcoming feature is a psychological stabilisation module for service members.

The major upcoming development is the launch of a B2B platform within DrillApp, aimed at weapons suppliers, instructors and educational institutions. These partners will be able to design and launch their own courses within the app. Only companies connected to the defence sector and not affiliated with hostile states will be eligible to participate. Pricing will vary based on the chosen cooperation model.

The startup is also preparing for its seed round of funding, with active fundraising expected to begin in August–September this year.