Ukraine's UFORCE hits $1B+ valuation with $50M raise to export battlefield tech
UFORCE, a London-based defence-tech startup combining nine Ukrainian companies, has raised $50M in seed funding at a valuation exceeding $1 billion — making it the UK's and Ukraine's first defence-tech unicorn.
The company develops combat-tested autonomous systems across air, sea, and land, including MAGURA maritime drones that have struck over 12 Russian warships and — reportedly a first — shot down manned aircraft. Its systems have supported more than 150,000 missions in Ukraine's war with Russia.
UFORCE is already profitable, with bookings in the hundreds of millions of dollars and 450% revenue growth in 2025. Western and Gulf militaries are urgently seeking battle-tested systems as drone warfare intensifies across multiple theatres.
Demand is especially acute in the Middle East, where Iranian Shahed drones — the same technology Russia deploys against Ukraine at roughly 1,000 units a week — are targeting Gulf infrastructure. UFORCE's counter-drone platforms were built specifically to defeat them.
Ukrainian defence startups have historically faced headwinds: export restrictions, corruption concerns, and the inherent instability of operating in a war zone. UFORCE mitigates this by manufacturing across 15 locations in six allied European countries, but geopolitical risk remains.
Ukraine's battlefield has become the world's most advanced proving ground for autonomous warfare — and investors are taking notice. UFORCE's unicorn status signals a broader shift: combat-proven tech, not slide-deck promises, is what defence buyers and venture capital now want.
With a team of over 1,000 and a founding bench that includes former Ukraine prime minister Oleksii Honcharuk and ex-UK defence secretary Ben Wallace, UFORCE is positioning itself as the platform through which battlefield innovation scales to allied militaries. It won't be the last Ukrainian unicorn to emerge from the war.
Source:
Bloomberg
Resilience Media
A.M.
