Resist.UA launches Estonia-based fund targeting €50 million
The Ukrainian defense tech investor is seeking international capital for Resist 2.0, a European vehicle for defense and dual-use companies tied to Ukraine.
By Marcus Adeyemi · Startups Editor
· 3 min read
Resist.UA has launched Resist 2.0, an Estonia-based European investment vehicle targeting up to €50 million for Ukrainian defense and dual-use technology companies. The raise is meant to bring qualified international investors into a sector that Resist.UA says has been growing quickly as products are tested against active military requirements.
The firm did not disclose commitments already secured, expected fund close timing, management fees, target ownership levels or return targets. It also did not disclose revenue, headcount or valuation figures for the companies it expects to back through the new vehicle.
Founded in 2023, Resist.UA sits between venture investing, military operators and Ukraine’s defense technology market. Its first fund was backed by Ukrainian capital and focused on pre-seed and seed-stage miltech startups. Resist.UA says that vehicle paired capital with operational support, with the aim of moving early prototypes toward production-ready companies.
What the first fund built
Resist.UA says its first fund reviewed more than 600 projects and worked with more than 100 Ukrainian defense tech teams. The platform reports that its portfolio is valued at more than $10 million. Publicly named companies include Farsight Vision and M-FLY, while the firm says other holdings remain undisclosed for security reasons.
The second fund is being set up in Estonia to operate as a European platform for international investors. Resist.UA says it will continue backing Ukrainian and European companies with Ukrainian roots, with a focus on technologies developed around frontline needs and tested in combat conditions.
The firm describes its approach as a hybrid of venture capital and private equity, with attention to long-term growth and manufacturing capacity rather than product development alone. It also says it follows a reinvestment-first model, directing returns mainly toward scaling portfolio companies and supporting the wider Ukrainian defense tech sector.
Defense tech capital keeps moving toward Ukraine
Roman Sulzhyk, founding partner at Resist.UA, said Ukrainian defense technology companies have drawn more than $500 million in private investment over the past two years. He framed the sector as both a wartime requirement and an industry forming under severe pressure, citing Ukraine’s engineers, entrepreneurs and technical teams as the base for companies that can attract global capital.
Sulzhyk has more than 20 years of experience in international capital markets, including roles at J.P. Morgan and Deutsche Bank in New York and London, according to Resist.UA. The platform’s team also includes experience in legal structuring, investing, international finance and talent management.
Oleksii Komlichenko, partner at Resist.UA, said the firm puts heavy weight on founders and teams because products can change while company-building capacity determines whether a startup can scale. That founder-first filter is a practical one in Ukraine’s defense market, where the pace of iteration, procurement uncertainty and manufacturing constraints can expose weak operators quickly.
The €50 million target would give Resist.UA a larger pool of international capital than its first Ukrainian-backed vehicle, but the announcement leaves several investor questions open. The main ones are how much capital has already been committed, how the fund will handle export controls and procurement risk, and how many companies can move from frontline validation to repeatable manufacturing contracts.
This story draws on original reporting from Tech.eu.
