The EU is awarding €20 million in funding to 41 cutting-edge Ukrainian start-ups and SMEs, following a European Innovation Council call to help them turn groundbreaking ideas into real-world solutions.
Each company will receive between €300,000 and €500,000 along with the possibility of faster access to the EIC Accelerator, which offers larger grants and equity investments via the EIC Fund.
“Supporting Ukraine’s most promising deep tech innovators is more than an investment in innovation, it is an investment in resilience and future growth,” said Commissioner for Research and Innovation Ekaterina Zaharieva: “This funding will help integrate the Ukrainian start-ups into the European innovation ecosystem, strengthening Ukraine’s long-term economic alignment with the EU.”
The initiative comes at a critical time as Ukrainian innovators face huge challenges, from limited access to capital to disruptions caused by Russia’s war of aggression. The EU funding will help bridge a critical financing gap, enabling these deep tech pioneers to progress from early-stage development to market-ready deployment in vital sectors such as artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology, cybersecurity, and more.
Some examples of the selected companies include: Farsight vision – a novel method for detection and location of unauthorised drones near airports and critical infrastructure by analysing video feeds, without relying on GPS or radio signals. This enhances airspace security by speeding up incident response and protecting sensitive sites from potential threats; Anotherland – an AI-powered platform that transforms architectural and engineering plans into interactive digital twins for real estate and large-scale reconstruction projects. From a single source, it creates photorealistic images, promotional videos, and immersive virtual and augmented reality experiences. This helps developers, municipalities, and reconstruction agencies to showcase projects in days, while buyers and investors can explore future spaces, test designs, and make smarter decisions faster; Innovinnprom – using AI-powered to predict grain spoilage in silos by analysing temperature humidity and gas. By forecasting biological activity one to three days in advance, farmers and storage managers can take early action to prevent losses, a crucial tool for Ukraine’s agriculture sector.
This funding builds on the Seeds of Bravery initiative launched in 2022 under the EIC in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It has already provided Ukrainian tech companies with financial support and business services. Today’s announcement takes it further, targeting companies ready to move from development to real-world demonstration and commercialisation.
