{"id":31572,"date":"2026-06-10T17:51:38","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T14:51:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/?p=31572"},"modified":"2026-06-12T17:34:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T14:34:59","slug":"gardar-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/2026\/06\/gardar-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"Norwegian fund Gardar plans to invest \u20ac100m in Ukrainian defence tech. How the project emerged \u2014 and what its founders have planned"},"content":{"rendered":"        <div class=\"wp-block-thdfndr-audio is-minimalist\">\n            <audio src=\"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/gardar-en.mp3\" class=\"thdfndr-native-node\" style=\"display: none;\" preload=\"metadata\"><\/audio>\n            <div class=\"thdfndr-audio-wrapper\">\n                \n                <button class=\"audio-play-control\" aria-label=\"Play Audio\">\n                    <span class=\"audio-play-icon-wrapper\">\n                        <svg viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"currentColor\"><path d=\"M19.376 12.4161L8.77735 19.4818C8.54759 19.635 8.23715 19.5729 8.08397 19.3432C8.02922 19.261 8 19.1645 8 19.0658V4.93433C8 4.65818 8.22386 4.43433 8.5 4.43433C8.59871 4.43433 8.69522 4.46355 8.77735 4.5183L19.376 11.584C19.6057 11.7372 19.6678 12.0477 19.5146 12.2774C19.478 12.3323 19.4309 12.3795 19.376 12.4161Z\"\/><\/svg>\n                    <\/span>\n                    <span class=\"audio-meta-text\">\n                        <span class=\"audio-label-listen\">Listen<\/span>\n                        <span class=\"audio-duration-node\" data-unit=\"min\">(&#8211;)<\/span>\n                    <\/span>\n                <\/button>\n                \n                <div class=\"audio-volume-container\">\n                    <div class=\"audio-volume-slider-wrapper\">\n                        <input type=\"range\" class=\"audio-volume-slider\" min=\"0\" max=\"1\" step=\"0.05\" value=\"1\" aria-label=\"Volume Level\">\n                    <\/div>\n                    <button class=\"audio-volume-trigger\" aria-label=\"Volume\">\n                        <svg viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"currentColor\"><path d=\"M2 16.0001H5.88889L11.1834 20.3319C11.2727 20.405 11.3846 20.4449 11.5 20.4449C11.7761 20.4449 12 20.2211 12 19.9449V4.05519C12 3.93977 11.9601 3.8279 11.887 3.73857C11.7121 3.52485 11.3971 3.49335 11.1834 3.66821L5.88889 8.00007H2C1.44772 8.00007 1 8.44778 1 9.00007V15.0001C1 15.5524 1.44772 16.0001 2 16.0001ZM23 12C23 15.292 21.5539 18.2463 19.2622 20.2622L17.8445 18.8444C19.7758 17.1937 21 14.7398 21 12C21 9.26016 19.7758 6.80629 17.8445 5.15557L19.2622 3.73779C21.5539 5.75368 23 8.70795 23 12ZM18 12C18 10.0883 17.106 8.38548 15.7133 7.28673L14.2842 8.71584C15.3213 9.43855 16 10.64 16 12C16 13.36 15.3213 14.5614 14.2842 15.2841L15.7133 16.7132C17.106 15.6145 18 13.9116 18 12Z\"\/><\/svg>\n                    <\/button>\n                <\/div>\n\n            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n        \n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A Norwegian fund named Gardar has recently been announced \u2013 a new venture focused on investments in Ukrainian defence tech. Its founders have already raised \u20ac80m and plan to increase that figure to \u20ac100m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gardar&#8217;s managing partner, Erlend Prestgard, explains that the fund grew out of another initiative \u2013 the Munkene AS consortium, which had already been active in Ukraine and had financed several local companies. Defender Media spoke with him about Gardar&#8217;s history and plans, and also asked the team at Pai Defence startup \u2013 Munkene AS&#8217;s first investment in Ukraine \u2013 about their experience working with the fund&#8217;s founders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is known about the fund and which areas interest it<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Gardar fund grew out of Munkene \u2013 a non-profit initiative through which Norwegian businessmen contributed their knowledge and money to benefit Ukraine&#8217;s defence sector. It was founded by alumni of the Norwegian Armed Forces\u2019 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over the past year, the team screened more than 150 companies, met with a hundred of them and invested in four: <a href=\"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/tags\/buntar\/\">Buntar Aerospace<\/a>, Lazr, <a href=\"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/2025\/05\/invest-in-bravery-best-startups\/\">Pai Defence<\/a> and one unnamed manufacturer. &#8220;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,&#8221; Prestgard says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also adds that a fifth investment is already planned \u2013 it was negotiated by the Munkene team, but it will be made on behalf of Gardar. However, neither the company&#8217;s name nor its area of work is being disclosed. Munkene, meanwhile, will continue operating as an initiative in parallel with the fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So far, Gardar has raised \u20ac80m of the planned \u20ac100m. 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 S\u00f8vold serving as advisers. Gardar operates within the regulated venture platform Sandwater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/505766698_10160870972692167_4783611369915702943_n-1024x768.webp\" alt=\"\u041a\u0435\u0440\u0456\u0432\u043d\u0438\u0439 \u043f\u0430\u0440\u0442\u043d\u0435\u0440 Gardar \u0415\u0440\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0434 \u041f\u0440\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0433\u0430\u0440\u0434 (\u0424\u043e\u0442\u043e \u0437 Facebook-\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0440\u0456\u043d\u043a\u0438)\" class=\"wp-image-31543\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/505766698_10160870972692167_4783611369915702943_n-1024x768.webp 1024w, https:\/\/thedefender.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/505766698_10160870972692167_4783611369915702943_n-300x225.webp 300w, https:\/\/thedefender.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/505766698_10160870972692167_4783611369915702943_n-768x576.webp 768w, https:\/\/thedefender.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/505766698_10160870972692167_4783611369915702943_n-1536x1152.webp 1536w, https:\/\/thedefender.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/505766698_10160870972692167_4783611369915702943_n.webp 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gardar managing partner Erlend Prestgard (Photo from Facebook page)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;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,&#8221; Prestgard explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Pai Defence team says about their Norwegian investors<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pai Defence founders Tonia Zakorchemna and Dmytro Pulmanovskyi say their company became Munkene&#8217;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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first to contact the team was Torkel Engeness, who took an interest in the startup&#8217;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&#8217;s work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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&#8217;s $10.4m seed investment round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-text-align-left wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/2026\/06\/norway-ukraine-usv\/\"><strong>Read more<\/strong>: Norway will allocate nearly $130 million for the procurement of maritime drones for Ukraine<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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: &#8220;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.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pai Defence&#8217;s co-founders call this fund one of the most pro-Ukrainian. The name Gardar itself comes from the word &#8220;Gar\u00f0ar\u00edki&#8221; \u2013 an Old Norse term used to denote Kyivan Rus. &#8220;The name also carries a deeper linguistic resonance. The Old Norse gar\u00f0r 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,&#8221; the fund says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Gardar fund grew out of Munkene AS \u2013 over the past year the team screened more than 150 companies and invested in four<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":31550,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pmpro_default_level":"","_featured_category_order":0,"_article_badge":"featured","footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[248,1728,726],"class_list":["post-31572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-investments","tag-buntar","tag-investments","tag-norway","pmpro-has-access"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Gardar fund plans fifth investment in a Ukrainian deftech company<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Defender Media spoke with the managing partner of the newly created Norwegian fund, Erlend Prestgard, about the history and goals of Gardar.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/2026\/06\/gardar-ukraine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gardar fund plans fifth investment in a Ukrainian deftech company\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Defender Media spoke with the managing partner of the newly created Norwegian fund, Erlend Prestgard, about the history and goals of Gardar.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/2026\/06\/gardar-ukraine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defender Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DefenderMediaUA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-10T14:51:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-12T14:34:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/602919528_856212780487780_8725474080491798924_n.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1365\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Oleksii Tucha\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@DefenderMediaUA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@DefenderMediaUA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Oleksii Tucha\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/gardar-ukraine\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/gardar-ukraine\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Oleksii Tucha\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7440f468fe320e6f8ca81062ff04d906\"},\"headline\":\"Norwegian fund Gardar plans to invest \u20ac100m in Ukrainian defence tech. 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