Tetiana Tyshchenko Moderates High-Level Investment Dialogue in Washington on Ukraine’s Defence Tech with MITS Capital and Brave1
Asters' Partner Tetiana Tyshchenko moderated a high-level strategic discussion on Ukraine's defence tech that took place in Washington, D.C. as part of the Brave1 U.S. Investment Roadshow.
The discussion featured:
- Perry Boyle, Co-founder and CEO of MITS Capital, an investment firm actively structuring transactions in Ukraine’s defenсe sector
- Iryna Zabolotna, Chief Operating Officer of Brave1, Ukraine’s government-backed defenсe tech cluster that connects military demand, engineering teams, and private sector innovators to accelerate the development and deployment of battlefield technologies
The event was held with the support of the Embassy of Ukraine in the United States and with the participation of Olga Stefanishyna, Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States.
The session brought together over 400 participants including U.S. and international venture investors, defence primes, institutional funds, policymakers, representatives of government institutions and the scientific and R&D community and others.
The discussion addressed a set of structural questions shaping investment decisions at a critical moment for the sector:
- How does real battlefield validation redefine risk in defence investing, shifting it from uncertainty to performance-based assessment?
- What do international investors still misunderstand about Ukrainian defence tech companies, including legal frameworks, procurement dynamics, and scaling constraints?
- How does Ukraine’s ability to move from prototype to deployment in weeks reshape venture timelines and capital efficiency expectations?
- What regulatory bottlenecks, particularly in arms export and contracting may slow down global scaling and how can they be addressed?
- What does real integration into U.S. and transatlantic defence supply chains look like beyond capital, including co-production, joint development, and industrial alignment?
Moderating the discussion, Tetiana Tyshchenko bridged investor logic with the practical realities of developing and scaling defence technologies in real-world conditions, drawing on her experience working on both sides of transactions. She highlighted: "We are at a decisive moment for Ukraine’s defence tech sector. The question is no longer whether the technology works — it has already been proven in real-world conditions. The real question is how fast we can align capital, regulation, and partnerships to capture a once-in-a-generation market opportunity".
From the investor perspective, Perry Boyle emphasised that Ukraine is at a “win-or-lose-it-all” moment, with up to 1,500 private companies developing technologies for modern asymmetric warfare and growing global demand for battlefield-proven solutions.
At the same time, he highlighted the importance of addressing regulatory bottlenecks, particularly in arms export to ensure Ukraine can scale internationally without losing momentum.
From the ecosystem perspective, Iryna Zabolotna underscored the role of Brave1 as a coordination platform that directly links military demand with engineering execution, significantly accelerating innovation cycles.
The discussion also highlighted a broader transition — Ukraine is moving from being a recipient of security assistance to becoming a contributor to global defence innovation with increasing alignment between Ukrainian engineering, Western capital, and international defines markets. The session concluded with a clear consensus: Ukraine’s defence tech sector is entering a decisive phase where speed of execution will determine its ability to capture a global market opportunity.
Asters is the largest full-service law firm in Ukraine with offices in Kyiv, Brussels, London, and Washington, D.C. The firm has access to over 125 jurisdictions through a well-developed network of partner law firms.
