Dear Investors of D3,
The long-anticipated export of Ukrainian defense technologies is now taking shape. Ukraine is preparing to open representative offices in Copenhagen and Berlin to showcase leading systems and—critically—share operational doctrines developed on the battlefield. This knowledge transfer from a battle-tested Ukrainian military to allied forces is a major differentiator. Plans call for ~10 such offices across Europe by year-end, including in France, Spain, and the UK.
In parallel, the National Security and Defense Council is finalizing a list of approved countries for Ukrainian defense exports. On the U.S. side, negotiations are underway on a bilateral “Drone Deal” framework: Ukraine would purchase $90B in U.S. weapons, while the U.S. would acquire $10B in Ukrainian drone technologies. Further details are expected following meetings next week.
A core principle behind Ukraine’s expansion strategy is partnership, not competition. Ukrainian defense companies aim to enter new markets by augmenting domestic primes with new capabilities, rather than displacing them—accelerating integration and adoption.
Anton represented D3 at a recent meeting with President Zelenskyy and other investors. In addition to export policy reform, D3 advocated for enabling Ukrainian companies to deploy capital abroad for M&A-driven global expansion. Since 2023, Ukraine’s drone champions have generated $1.5B+ in profits. These funds have fueled internal R&D, working capital, and even financing for smaller suppliers—triggering domestic consolidation. These companies are now ready to scale globally through acquisitions, but foreign currency controls currently trap this capital inside Ukraine. Unlocking it represents a major financial and strategic opportunity for Ukraine’s defense tech sector and for investors positioned early.
D3 Partner Anton and other investors meet President Zelenskyy (October 8, 2025)
Total = 847 (+32)
October marked a pivotal month for D3. We added two flagship investments that open new strategic pathways for the fund—on opposite ends of the company-building spectrum.
On the growth side, we invested in UForce, a company that has fundamentally reshaped military history and the balance of power in the Black Sea. Its portfolio includes the now-iconic Magura naval drones, Nemesis bomber UAVs, the Liut UGV, and the Predator automated cUAS turret.
UForce’s systems have delivered historic battlefield results: Magura operations alone have neutralized more than 15 high-value Russian targets—including landing and patrol ships, aircraft, and helicopters. For the first time in modern warfare, a nation without a navy defeated a navy through autonomous systems. This is the most mature company D3 has invested in to date.
The company generated $129M in revenue in 2024, with $320M projected for 2025. UForce is strongly cash-flow positive; however, capital remains trapped inside Ukraine under current FX restrictions. This equity round provides the resources required to execute on newly secured NATO contracts exceeding $20M.
We conducted extensive internal debate given that one co-founder is former Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk, and the other is former CEO of the state-owned energy operator Ukrenergo, Vsevolod Kovalchuk. While backgrounds of this profile can attract political scrutiny in Ukraine, the strategic case was clear: UForce is one of the most consequential Ukrainian defense companies of this war, and this financing establishes a historic precedent. For the first time, the round is being led by Tier-1 U.S. and European investors (Shield Capital and Lakestar), paving the way for global institutional investors to look at Ukraine. D3 needed to be part of this milestone.
Investment: $500K at a $1B pre-money valuation cap
A full investment memo will be included in next month’s newsletter.
UForce Maguro
On the incubation side, we invested in Spiel, a next-generation simulation and synthetic training platform for autonomous defense systems. Spiel will enable cloud-scale environments for training autonomy, generating synthetic data, and multi-domain AI-driven wargaming to discover novel tactics and strategies. It also provides immersive mission-rehearsal interfaces for human operators, allowing rapid iteration and testing across millions of scenarios—far beyond what physical testing can achieve.
Spiel is being incubated by Auctor, the same venture studio that created Cambridge Aerospace, and is assembling a world-class founding team of AI and defense talent for a Q1 2026 launch.
D3’s conviction: the next generation of defense advantage will be won not only through hardware, but through the ability to simulate, stress-test, and evolve autonomous systems at scale. Nations that master synthetic training will out-innovate and out-adapt those limited to physical testing cycles.
Investment: $250K at a $20M pre-money valuation cap
Spiel one-pager:
251009 Investment Memo_Spiel_.pdf
Both rounds were competitive and we were restricted in allocation.