D3 Research
Investment Thesis
D3 (Dare to Defend Democracy) is an early-stage venture fund investing exclusively in defense technology, deep tech, and dual-use startups serving Ukraine and its NATO allies. Founded in the summer of 2023 by Eveline Buchatskiy, Anton Verkhovodov, and Elya Chiechienieva, D3's thesis is that Ukraine's wartime tech ecosystem has become the world's fastest iteration loop for combat-proven defense technology, and that this asymmetric advantage — commercial-pace innovation applied to national security — will define the next generation of the defense industry. D3 positions itself as the bridge between Ukraine's frontline-tested technical talent and the capital, certifications, and NATO-market access held by allied countries. The fund explicitly avoids dual-use "commercial pivot" stories, backing teams building military-first technology from day one.
Sector Focus
D3 invests across ten defense-tech verticals: drones (UAV/UGV/UUV/USV), electronic warfare and RF/SIGINT, autonomy and swarm coordination, sensors, AI and mission systems, counter-UAS/interceptors, and demining. The fund is explicit that it requires technical co-founders and does not back non-technical teams or generalist dual-use companies without a clear national-security application.
Stage Focus
D3 invests at Pre-Seed and Seed, describing itself as "comfortable investing in very early stages." It has also participated selectively in Series A rounds for existing relationships (e.g., TYTAN Technologies) and reserves capacity for follow-on investment when a portfolio company lands a lead investor on its next round.
Check Size
D3's current stated initial check is $500K to $1.5M, deployed via equity and convertible instruments with deal terms set during negotiation. This reflects an increase from the fund's earlier standard check of roughly $125K reported in 2025 as the fund scaled. D3 also maintains follow-on capital for subsequent rounds.
Lead Tendency
D3 most often invests as part of a syndicate alongside larger international funds (Sequoia Capital, a16z, Lux Capital, Lakestar) rather than leading priced rounds, though it has been the first institutional check for some Ukrainian founders (e.g., backing Agon "from day one" of its pre-seed).
Recent Activity
D3 has been actively deploying through 2026. Recent syndicate investments include Agon's $30M pre-seed/seed (2026-07), Stridar's seed round (2026-04), TYTAN Technologies' €30M Series A (2026-02), and Onodrim Industries' €40M seed round (2026-02). In July 2025, Denmark's state investment bank EIFO became the first state-owned fund to invest in D3 itself, committing $5M to support the fund's plan to back more than 30 early-stage defense startups. By May 2025, D3 had screened more than 700 startups and made 16 investments, roughly half in Ukrainian companies, with co-investors including Sequoia Capital, a16z, and Lux Capital.
Portfolio Highlights
Notable portfolio companies span the full "New Defence" stack: Neros Technologies (US, FPV attack drones, raised $35M from Sequoia in 2025 and delivered 6,000 drones to Ukraine under the International Drone Coalition), Kela Technologies (Israel, secure civilian-military integration platform, raised $11M from Sequoia and $28M from Lux Capital), Swarmer (Ukraine, AI swarm coordination for drones, $2.7M raised in 2024), TYTAN Technologies (Germany, counter-drone interceptors, €30M Series A co-led by Armira and the NATO Innovation Fund), Onodrim Industries (Netherlands, defense-industrial platform, €40M seed), and Agon (UK, AI simulation for autonomous weapons training, $30M combined pre-seed/seed). Ukrainian portfolio companies include Ailand Systems (demining drones), Airlogix (tactical reconnaissance UAVs), Buntar Aerospace (reconnaissance UAVs), Drone Space Labs (multi-purpose UAV R&D), Frontline (reconnaissance UAVs and robotic turret systems), Guardian RF (RF-based drone detection), and Zvook (acoustic threat-detection sensor networks).
Team
- Eveline Buchatskiy, Managing Partner and co-founder — prior experience scaling startups via TA Ventures, Eastlabs, TechStars, and airSlate; public face of the fund, active on the defense-tech speaking circuit (Copenhagen Democracy Summit 2025).
- Anton Verkhovodov, Partner and co-founder — public spokesperson on fund performance and deployment pace (Invest in Bravery conference).
- Elya Chiechienieva, Partner and co-founder.
- Taras Lutsiv, Investment Associate.
D3's investor base includes former Google CEO Eric Schmidt as an LP, alongside EIFO (Denmark's state export-investment fund), which invested $5M in 2025.
Decision Process
D3 runs a staged process: application or warm intro, an initial 30-minute call with an investment team member, deeper partner meetings, a mandatory technical review by "Experts in Residence" to validate R&D and production feasibility, followed by deal terms and a background/security compliance check before signing. The fund's three core decision dimensions are team (full-time technical co-founders required), technology validation (R&D scalability, supply-chain risk), and product validation (proven customer need vs. alternatives).
Founder Preferences
D3 prioritizes fully dedicated, technically deep founding teams — it is "mandatory" to have technical co-founders — with a demonstrated ability to iterate quickly and work directly with military end-users to shape tactics and procedures around new technology.
Geographic Focus
Primarily Ukraine and NATO allied countries, with a stated goal of acting as a bridge between the two. The current portfolio spans Ukraine, the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, and Israel.