“Ukraine Defense Tech: Ecosystem Night” in San Francisco on Opening Evening of TechCrunch Disrupt

SAN FRANCISCO – October 13, 2026 – On the opening evening of TechCrunch Disrupt, the Consulate General of Ukraine in San Francisco, Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Startup Fund, the Ukrainian IT Association, and VICTORIA (Defense Tech Venture Studio) co-hosted “Ukraine Defense Tech: Ecosystem Night” at “C UKRAINE” in San Francisco.

The event brought together venture investors, founders, and senior figures from the diplomatic and defense-tech community.

The evening was hosted by Yevgeniy Drobot, co-founder of VICTORIA, who welcomed guests and framed the night’s to be held under Chatham House rules to encourage candid discussion, before introducing Dmytro Kushneruk, Consul General of Ukraine in San Francisco, for opening remarks.

“Ukraine has moved away from the old, state-controlled defense industry. Today, our government acts as customer, investor, regulator, and connector all at once – it sets priorities, funds early-stage startups, gives fast access to military testing, and creates a clear path from prototype to procurement. The result is that startups, soldiers, and investors now work together directly: soldiers give feedback in hours, engineers fix it right away. That is why Ukrainian companies are ready for global markets.” – Dmytro Kushneruk, Consul General of Ukraine in San Francisco.

The program’s centerpiece was an off-the-record panel, “Ukrainian Tech Ecosystem & Defense,” moderated by Nazar Gulyk, co-founder of VICTORIA, with Iryna Ostash, CEO of Celebra Tech, Ostap Korkuna, Co-Founder of NeoLens AI, alongside Andrii Lytvyn, Strategic Development Director of the Ukrainian IT Association and Anastasiia Kravchenko-Uhrekhelidze, Deputy Head of Projects at Ukrainian Startup Fund.

Telling about VICTORIA’s mission, Nazar Gulyk explained why bringing allied innovation directly into Ukraine actually makes sense:

“Having a team on the ground in Ukraine alongside our presence here in the U.S. is what lets us actually find this technology. We’ve watched a startup idea go from a blank sheet of paper to field-testing and signed significant LOIs in a matter of weeks, because they had direct access to the battlefield problem they were solving. That’s the advantage we’re building toward: bringing the best of what’s being built here (in Silicon Valley and allied countries) to the defenders who need it.’”

A showcase of five startups Celebra Tech, ThreatBreaker, Kynoptix, LifeSaverSIM, and NeoLens AI – followed, giving founders a direct line to investors and partners in the room.

The event also featured a presentation of KOLO Charity Foundation and it’s active fundraiser – a campaign to support Ukraine’s air defense capability. The appeal came against the backdrop of continued Russian ballistic strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure, which organizers noted were ongoing even as the event took place.

Partners of the event

Victoria Defense Tech Venture Studio – operating platform bridging Silicon Valley and Ukraine, with a mission to bring technological advantage to the defenders of Ukraine. Victoria works with allied startup teams to validate the solutions and iterate defense (and dual-use) technology.

Militarnyi – served as media partner.

CatalystBay – one of the largest AI communities in San Francisco, run by a Ukrainian team – served as the event’s local ecosystem partner.

Empat Tech, an AI-focused product development studio with offices in San Francisco, London, and Kyiv, served as the event’s co-sponsor.