Opportunities of the Horizon Europe for defense tech and dual-use companies were discussed at an event dedicated to grant programmes in Europe and Ukraine
On February 4, 2026, an event dedicated to funding of the defence tech and dual-use technologies was held, organised by the European Defence Fund in cooperation with the Brave1 Initiative and Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine, NRFU: “Grant Programmes for Defence Tech and Dual-Use Companies: Opportunities from Europe and Ukraine”. Representatives of Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine, NRFU, joined as speakers.
In particular, the Head of the Office Igor Taranov presented the Horizon Europe Framework Programme as the largest programme of the European Union for financing research and innovation. In 2026, a wide range of funding opportunities is opened within the Programme for companies whose activities, among other things, are related to defence and dual-use technologies. In addition, the speaker informed the participants about certain aspects of submitting a grant application from his own experience, since Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine is also the European Commission’s project under the Programme.
Also, we should highlight the speech of the representative of the European Commission, Martin Jõesaar, who is the Project Officer of the EU Defence Innovation Office in Kyiv, (EDF). The speaker talked in detail about the EDF grant opportunities available to Ukrainian participants and other funding programmes. And he also announced the information days, matchmaking and brokerage events to connect defence innovators, investors and industry leaders in Europe.
We would like to remind you that Ukraine will become an associated country to the European Defence Fund soon, which was announced by the EU Council in November 2025. This decision will allow Ukrainian organisations to take part in the European Defence Fund calls and submit project proposals on equal terms with EU partners, joining joint research and development in the defence technologies area.
Among other speakers of the event – is Iryna Zabolotna, Deputy Director of the Innovation Development Fund, responsible for international partnerships and support for civil and defence developers within Brave1. She opened the event with a presentation on the initiative’s grants and activities in 2026, which should be attended by everyone who works in the defence and dual-use technologies area and wants to receive additional funding to implement their own developments and ideas.
The participants were also presented with one of the programmes of the Brave1 – UNITE Brave NATO Initiative, aimed at cooperation between Ukraine and NATO in the field of innovation, technology and engineering. Riana Andrieux, CAP Programme Manager, NATO, informed about the possibilities within this programme.
At the end of the working part of the event, a panel discussion on international grant programmes was held with the participation of Martin Jõesaar, Head of UCDI Strategic Projects Maria Shamota, CEO at Estonian robotics company CAFA Tech Tanel Järvet and Business Analyst at HIMERA project Artem Jatsyk. Specialists of the panel discussed ways of participating in grant programs, pointing out common mistakes, and gave advice to the participants of the event.
Speakers’ speeches aroused great interest among the participants of the event, who asked many questions, and also discussed the possibilities of obtaining consultations and further cooperation during the networking that took place after the working part of the event.
