Ukrainian defense-tech teams can complete the Y Combinator winter program without traveling to the US: interviews and participation are allowed in a remote format, and the standard investment package is $500,000 per startup.
Ukrainian defense-tech teams can complete the Y Combinator winter program without traveling to the US: interviews and participation are allowed in a remote format, and the standard investment package is $500,000 per startup.
According to The Defender Media, YC partner Jared Friedman confirmed his willingness to make an exception for Ukrainian founders due to military restrictions. Recruitment is ongoing for the winter program in San Francisco (January-March 2026), the application deadline is November 10.
The terms of participation include two tranches before the start of training, mentoring by partners, a demo day and access to an investor network. Registration of a legal entity in the state of Delaware is required, as this simplifies transactions and subsequent rounds. The application is submitted through the official website of the accelerator .
Selection takes place in several steps: submission of a questionnaire with a short pitch and a link to a demo, video interview in November-December, decision usually on the day of the interview. For defense decisions, it is important to immediately explain dual-use scenarios and compliance with export controls.
The ability to participate remotely removes the main barrier of a physical presence in the US and opens up access to global investors without the risks of long trips during wartime. For teams already testing products with military and civilian customers, YC has become a quick way to build supply chains and prepare for scale.
Until 2024, Y Combinator did not actually work with defense topics, but it revised its policy and already has several defense projects in its portfolio. In total, the accelerator has financed more than five thousand companies. Among them: Airbnb, Stripe, Reddit, Dropbox, Coinbase. The total value of the portfolio exceeds $ 800 billion. Ukrainian teams have graduated from the Petcube, Awesomic, AiSDR programs in different years.
Earlier, dev.ua wrote about how three Ukrainian defense startups received $30,000 each for technologies that could change the rules of the game on the front. The winners were determined during the final Demo Day of the second Defense Builder accelerator program.
