Seeds of Bravery the Final Chapter
Recently The Seeds of Bravery consortium meeting met in person one final time where partners aligned on results, final reporting, and next steps, ensuring that the impact of Seeds of Bravery continues beyond the project lifecycle.
Seeds of Bravery in numbers:
- €12M in financial support allocated to Ukrainian innovators
- 1800 applications submitted across programmes
- 450 grants awarded to 320+ companies
“Seeds of Bravery proved that theUkrainian tech ecosystem is “more than ready” for the European Union. This new network provides the scale to drive that talent into Europe´s long-term strategic autonomy. We are moving beyond seed grants to ensure Ukrainian founders and European scaleups stay in Europe, building a resilient market where ‘physical AI’ and dual-use innovation can thrive”, commented Sanyu Karani, Co-CEO, FundingBox.
March 11 marked the final Seeds of Bravery Demo Day in Warsaw — the culmination of more than 2 years of work which was orgaised by AxisBIC, Plug & Play and Funding Box.
The event brought together investors, ecosystem stakeholders, and some of the most promising Ukrainian deep tech startups.
8 startups pitched their solutions: CASES, INPUT SOFT, NRG Advizor, Sirocco Energy, InTempo, TechNovator, Trojan Systems, DiM.
Awards:
- TechNovator WON the Best Pitch Award
- Input Soft WON the Most Investable Company Award
The jury featured leading European ecosystem players: Plug and Play, Luxinnovation GIE, Revenue Capital, Accelerace.
Larry O’Donoghue, CEO AxisBIC hosted a panel discussion “Insights from investors for founders”, where top investors shared practical perspectives on scaling, fundraising, and navigating international markets.
A special guest of the Demo Day was Michiel Scheffer, Chairman of the EIC Board highlighting the growing attention of the European innovation community toward Ukrainian tech.
This final Demo Day was not just a closing event it was a clear signal: Ukrainian startups are ready for international capital, partnerships, and scaling.
On March 12 was the Seeds of Bravery consortium meeting, where partners aligned on results, final reporting, and next steps, ensuring that the impact of Seeds of Bravery continues beyond the project lifecycle. We are grateful to everyone who has been part of this journey: partners, startups, investors, and ecosystem builders.
Seeds of Bravery has become a powerful boost for Ukrainian deep-tech startups preparing them to successfully compete for EIC Pre-Accelerator, EIC Accelerator, and other European Innovation Council programmes.
- Designing and delivered structured market discovery webinars detailing the startup ecosystem in 37 geographies
- Built robust go-to market strategies identifing market opportunities and market needs in 23 Market Fast-Track Programmes
- 290 Pitches to Investors & Corporates for investment
- 52 Experts provided insights about Soft-landing Opportunities across the EU
- 202 attendees learn about EU legal Compliance, Legal advice and consultations
- 20 Invested Startups – ALL participated in Demo Days and/or Market Fast Track
- These 20 startups subsequently raised €15.4 million in investment
