April 20, 2023

Ukrainian dual-use projects: how they work and inspire

After more than a year of full-scale war, thanks to the incredible courage and strength of spirit of our soldiers, Ukraine continues to fight for freedom, gaining independence, and defending the values of the free world in daily hard battles. At the same time, every Ukrainian becomes a warrior on his or her front: economic, volunteer, medical, international, information, educational, and cyber fronts, each of which brings our victory closer.

The Ukrainian tech sector has become a powerful support for the economy of the warring country, ensuring not only the sustainability of the sector but also acting as a driver in various processes: creating new effective products and services for the army, developing and implementing innovative solutions that help Ukrainians every day – at the front and in civilian life, developing and presenting technological products that are in demand around the world.

Initiative and creative approaches, non-standard solutions created or developed during the war, niche expertise and experience are the capital that enables an asymmetric response to wartime challenges, allows us to gain an advantage in the competition for the most effective and efficient solutions, and is undoubtedly something that is highly valued and requested by our partners abroad.

Hundreds of Ukrainian startup teams are generating ideas and developing cool projects that are already implemented in the defense and security sector, but also have the potential to be widely used in everyday life. We are talking about dual-use projects.

Established in 2018,Ukraine Startup Fund is a driver of Ukraine startup ecosystem, providing conditions for its growth, shaping a positive investment image of the tech industry abroad, and representing Ukrainian innovative solutions around the world. For more than three years, before the full-scale invasion, the USF has provided grants to more than 250 Ukrainian startups worth more than $6.4 million.

Despite the extremely difficult times of war after the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the team continues to work, supporting innovative solutions for Ukrainians and focusing on military tech and deep tech areas. Currently, there are 3 targeted programs: The Dual-Use Project Support Program, the Innovation Voucher Program, and the Drone Fast Track.
Since February 2022, the Fund’s classic grant program has been suspended, and the Dual-Use Projects Grant Program has been launched to promote the creation and development of innovative dual-use products: technologies, processes, or other components that distinguish such products from those on the market or meet existing demand from both individuals and the state.
Non-repayable financial assistance for dual-use projects covers project development costs, provides access to the best mentors and experts, increases the country’s defense capabilities, and contributes to its rapid post-war recovery. The grant is provided in the amount of up to USD 35,000, of which USD 25,000 is allocated to the applicant’s activities and up to USD 10,000 to pay for the services of an accredited accelerator.
More that 200 teams have already submitted their projects to the program, 28 have won, and 26 of them have already been funded. The top 3 industries are infrastructure, healthcare, and defense.

Here are the teams of dual-purpose projects that took advantage of the opportunity and received funding to develop their solutions thanks to the program.

DRILL APP a course of short video exercises, lessons, and tasks that allow you to improve your shooting skills

The team’s goal: in the context of an aggressive war provoked by a terrorist state, to teach every Ukrainian with a smartphone basic shooting skills with virtually any weapon, and to be ready to defend and repel the enemy.

The solution: A set of short video exercises, lessons, and courses that allow firearms owners, both civilians, and military, to improve their shooting skills.

Dual-use: use for civilian and military purposes. The app can be used by anyone who has a personal or service weapon: athletes, hunters, and security and defense professionals, such as the military or police.

How it all began

Founded in December 2021, the unique product from Ukrainian developers Drill app was initially fully aimed at the Western market. However, after Russia’s full-scale invasion, responding to the challenges of wartime, the team made a small pivot to focus on Ukraine and decided to add a carbine to the courses to train the military and combatants.

“When developing Drill, we sought to create a virtual personal trainer that would be convenient to work with regardless of location, time, or environment: training in the trenches, at a shooting range, or home,” says project co-founder Oleksandr Gusarov.

The project was created by 2 founders, ho started working on the launch, and then when necessary added the necessary specialists:

Oleksandr Gusarov – a military man, volunteer, serial IT entrepreneur with 13 years of experience, CTO of Forbes Ukraine, founder of the Wings of Justice charity foundation.
Ihor S. – career military with 10 years of experience in special forces, ATO veteran, combatant in Ukraine and abroad, multiple winner of military competitions, co-founder of a tactical training school.

Currently, the team has 12 permanent employees.

While working on the implementation of the solution in the troops, it turned out that many soldiers defending Ukraine on the front line did not have even basic skills in using personal small arms, and for many, it was a discovery that there was training ammunition. The Drill team took these issues into account to close this gap and prepare our defenders as best they can.

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpjcXQkILqk

Today, the mobile application is useful for both military and civilians, as it teaches safe and professional handling of weapons, improving shooting skills with different types of weapons. The app currently has two courses with virtual training on pistols and carbines (AR15/AK74). Of course, the app is not a substitute for a full-fledged trainer, but it allows you to train anywhere and anytime.

The team’s non-standard solutions included the involvement of powerful project mentors, and military and other security leaders. For example, the former head of the National Police, Yevhen Zhukov (call sign Marshal), is an adherent and ambassador of the app. It was thanks to his support and posts in the telegram that Drill received the first wave of users on whom the app’s functionality was tested.

Among the main challenges, Drill highlights working in extreme wartime conditions – under fire and during blackouts. The fact that some of the employees have left their mark on the project’s progress and development has also had an impact. Some of the employees joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, despite all the circumstances, Drill notes the extremely high motivation of the team.

Program of the Fund: Achievements and plans

Despite the entire grant process and complicated reporting, funding from the dual-use grant support program helped us create new functionality, test marketing activities, and take care of copyright, namely:

finalize the MVP of the product and exit beta testing
confirm the market fit in Ukraine,
localize the application for the Polish market and start scaling to the European market with a business representative office in the EU, which will allow monetizing the product, since the application is free for Ukrainians,
register copyright and trademark.

The Drill team’s approach to building the project is a build strap, i.e., using the resources available to the funders.

“I raised my own funds from the exit from the previous project. In addition, we have already won several competitions and received development grants, which covered part of the R&D and marketing costs,” says Oleksandr Gusarov, co-founder and CEO at the startup.

Among Drill’s significant achievements is the victory in the pitching in the “Cabinet of Startups of Ukraine” project by the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the USF, as well as the victory in the startup competition within Western Ukrainian Partnership Forum by Lviv Oblast Military Administration with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The team has completed incubation in accelerators and continues to participate in the Fund’s initiatives.

Drill’s immediate plans include entering the Polish and US markets, launching paid features, raising funds for scaling, and more aggressive marketing. To achieve its goals, the company needs to:

raise funds from specialized funds,
get in touch with partner institutions,
permission to travel abroad (personal presence is required to register a company in the USA and open a bank account),
and without doubts the opportunity to attend international arms exhibitions is highly desirable.

Currently the biggest achievement is the launch of the unique project during the war, the entrepreneurs say. Everything else is just bait.

The usefulness and need for this application are confirmed by 25,000 active users and cool mentors, including the former head of the National Police of Ukraine Marshal, the founder of PSDinfo – Quebec, and the chief master sergeant of the 47th separate assault brigade – “Magura” Valeriy Markus.

“The greatest achievements are yet to come. Our task is to bring the victory closer!”