The angel club United Angels Network financed three Ukrainian defense startups at once for $390,000. – it is about Himera, Buntar Aerospace and another project, which has not yet been named. It is interesting that from the beginning the founders of the club did not plan to invest specifically in the defense industry, but the club itself was created to primarily teach IT entrepreneurs to invest in startups.
Ivan Dmytrasevich, partner of the business angel gjdsd, told Forbes how the defense direction became one of the focuses.
From the beginning, the main tasks of the club were to help Ukrainian entrepreneurs to close the «failures» in financing at the early stages and to increase the number of investors, i.e. club members, through training. The DefenceTech segment was added organically due to growing demand for defense technology. As Dmytrasevich explained, five projects are presented at the pitch days — two from the defense segment and 3 teams from general industries. At the same time, he noted that the club will not be able to focus exclusively on the defense sector.
«The entire IT business invests in victory. This is equipment, a car, some other means. For them, a defense startup is also a way to help the armed forces, because this way you can improve a certain direction tenfold. Therefore, for them, this is a highly effective investment in victory,» Dmytrasevich is quoted as saying by the publication.
Ivan added that the vertical of defense technologies will grow, and the appearance of unicorns in it will allow investors to earn.
Regarding the prospects for the application of «civilian» business strategies in this segment, a lot depends on what the defense startup focuses on and how it operates. According to Dmytrasevich, three types of companies can now be distinguished, which:
sell their military developments at cost or with a minimal markup to cover operating costs and at the same time have a clear vision of entering other markets; offer good technological and engineering solutions, but lack business leaders capable of systematically developing them; grew out of volunteer or scientific initiatives and offer small-scale production without going beyond it.
According to Dmytrasevich, defense teams work with advisers, consultants with military experience, or direct users of their products, that is, military personnel. In this way, expertise simply from the front line helps to compensate for insufficient experience.
«And entrepreneurial experience, in my opinion, is universal. In defense, you also have to build processes, understand roles, timing, budget, etc.,» says Dmytrasevich.
What is known about the United Angels Network
United Angels Network was founded at the end of 2023 by Ivan Dmytrasevich and technopreneur Oleksandr Reminny. Their common aspiration is to help Ukrainian teams create more ideas.
The angel club format was chosen because it allows you to get more from the expertise of the members than, say, an investment fund. According to the formula of the founders, the United Angels Network should consist of 10% of experienced business angels, another 10% of representatives of foreign funds or investment communities, and 80% of founders or C-level managers of IT companies
«Every month we choose five startups for the pitch day from about 20 teams. We go «into the field», do research, see who is visible and who is not so visible. Then we select teams, conduct interviews. We continue communication with all participants of pitch days, once a month we collect updates about their business,» Dmytrasevich explained the principle of the club's work.