On stage

JP

Jakub Parusinski

Moderator · KI Insights

DB

David Bateman

Claret Capital Partners

RS

Roman Sulzhyk

Resist Ventures

JK

John Kim

JetBridge Technologies

TJ

Thomas Jackson

JaxWeld

The panel explored private investment into Ukraine's booming defence-tech and dual-use sector, where foreign capital is now actively seeking deals. Roman Sulzhyk described a new generation of young founders and the challenge of making investors money, warning that the wartime export ban and government procurement dynamics will reshape which companies win after the war. David Bateman drew lessons from Israel's and Europe's venture ecosystems on exits, tax treaties and reducing bureaucracy; John Kim probed how foreign angels can profitably exit; and Thomas Jackson made the case for relocating manufacturing to Ukraine.

The substance

Key takeaways

1

Roman Sulzhyk framed a historic inflection point: for the first time in Ukraine's 30-year history, foreign funds arrive saying "we have $100 million allocated to Ukrainian MilTech — where do we deploy?" (Brave1 investor days went from five investors to ~60), and the ecosystem's real test is no longer building it but proving investors can actually make money and that a new, non-predatory generation of founders has replaced the oligarch-era "crooks."

2

David Bateman drew lessons from Israel's deliberately built 1990s ecosystem and Europe's own venture near-collapse around 2010-11, stressing that the unglamorous plumbing — Delaware-style incorporation, tax treaties, escaping exchange controls, streamlining KYC — determines whether entrepreneurs can get money out, and that the "magic" is when returns get reinvested back in, PayPal-mafia style.

3

On Ukraine's defence-export ban, Sulzhyk opposed it but predicted it will resolve itself after the war, estimating Ukraine could realistically export €2-4 billion within two years, and alleged that current winners of the ~$5 billion domestic procurement game may be "throttling" export liberalization because they fear they won't be the winners once Western-facing, English-speaking, well-governed firms compete.

4

Sulzhyk explained the investment mechanics vividly — a government contract is "like pure heroin" that removes a startup's need for VC, so the sweet spot is pre-contract sub-$10 million valuations, with exits via local or foreign IPO, conglomeration, or acquisition by a Raytheon or Lockheed Martin, but only after export controls lift; John Kim quipped investors are "like penguins" waiting for someone else to jump first.

5

Sulzhyk was candid about risk that cannot be engineered away — a friend's $100 million plant is uninsurable, another lost $50 million of factories in Zaporizhzhia — concluding "you cannot de-risk being on the front lines" and that price/returns are the only compensation, while his real edge is educating the layer of capable Ukrainian founders who have working products and procurement but "don't speak English" and have no concept of selling equity.

In their words

Key quotes

“

us investors, we're like penguins: we want someone else to go first.

John Kim

“

that's what saves a country, basically: engineering and manufacturing. You've got to be able to export.

Thomas Jackson

“

it's the first time in Ukraine when there is an industry where people actually want to pour in money.

Roman Sulzhyk

“

the baseline is always the entrepreneur.

David Bateman

Full transcript

The complete transcript of this session is being prepared for publication after a review pass.

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