In early 2025, Brave1 and the Ukrainian Startup Fund merged into the Innovation Development Fund. Today, the Ministry of Digital Affairs announced structural changes: Natalia Kushnerska, who headed the newly created fund, is leaving it, and the Brave1 defense cluster will be strengthened by a new team.
In early 2025, Brave1 and the Ukrainian Startup Fund merged into the Innovation Development Fund. Today, the Ministry of Digital Affairs announced structural changes: Natalia Kushnerska, who headed the newly created fund, is leaving it, and the Brave1 defense cluster will be strengthened by a new team.
Natalia Kushnerska, who headed Brave1 since its founding in 2023, and then the entire Innovation Development Fund, is leaving her position and taking on a new role in the Ministry of Digital Economy ecosystem, the ministry reports .
Viktor Rudenko has been appointed Acting Director of the Fund. He has over 15 years of experience in public administration, including in the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Community and Territorial Development. Since 2022, as an expert at Digital for Freedom and EGAP, he has been responsible for the development of key regulatory legal acts that simplified the process of purchasing innovative weapons and gave impetus to the formation of UAV and electronic warfare, and ammunition markets.
The Brave1 defense cluster will be strengthened by a leadership team of civilian and military specialists led by Andriy Hrytsenyuk , who will be responsible for the search and management of military technology development. He will also focus on coordinating work with the government, the General Staff, and military units to develop the capabilities of the Ukrainian defense tech sector and form a system that will allow for a prompt response to the technological challenges of war.
Andriy Hrytsenyuk has over 20 years of experience in IT, digital transformations and crisis management in times of change. He worked as an IT director in the country's largest banks, in 2022 he was recognized as the Chief Information Officer of The Year by the international publication The Banker (UK). Since 2023 he has joined the team of the Ministry of Digital Transformation. He managed the development of "Action" and "Dreams", played a key role in the projects e-Housing, military bonds, online marriage. He designed the anti-fraud system "dyed funds", which became the foundation for e-Support, e-Recovery and other projects for the payment of funds to support the population.
In just the last year of the Brave1 defense tech cluster's operation, the number of developments registered on the platform has more than doubled — from 1,600 to 3,600+. The number of developments codified according to NATO standards that Brave1 supported has increased 5-fold — from 60 to 300. The amount of grants issued for defense innovations has increased from $3 to $50 million.
Within the civil direction, since 2023, the Ukrainian Startup Fund has issued 45 grants for over $1.5 million with the support of international donors, as well as over 250 grants for over €10 million within the Seeds of Bravery program.
Recall that the Ministry of Digital Affairs is preparing for radical changes in the structure, management and team , including Brave1. A new component will appear in its structure - 300 military personnel who will participate in work on DefenceTech projects. This should strengthen the integration of innovations with the real needs of the army.
