The organizers of the IT Arena Startup Competition 2025 announced a record size of the investment fund — $12.5 million. This is the largest figure in the entire history of the competition, which every year becomes a platform for cooperation between startups and investors within the IT Arena tech conference in Lviv.
As stated in the Startup Competition 2025 press release, investors were joined by leading venture capital funds and companies: 1991 VC, Vesna Capital, Presto Tech Horizons, Double Tap Investments, Wolver Ventures, Rockaway Ventures, Tilia Impact Ventures, and others. The largest contribution ($5 million) was made by the Presto Tech Horizons fund, which focuses on deeptech, defense, and resilience solutions.
«We focus on startups that already have a product — from pre-seed to Series A. Ukrainian entrepreneurs demonstrate some of the highest indicators of global thinking and efficiency in the world,» commented Tisho Jenkut, a partner at the fund.
The results of last year’s competition confirm that IT Arena opens the door to real deals. In particular, Double Tap Investments entered into a partnership with the startup Hard Cat Drones, which presented its innovative drones at the arena.
«We invest in solutions that create real impact, and we are convinced that Hard Cat Drones innovations can save lives and contribute to improving the security of Ukraine,» explained the fund’s co-founder Oles Khudoba.
His colleague Jan-Erik Saarinen added: «This is an example of a combination of technological flexibility and practical application, relevant for both Ukraine and Finland.»
In 2025, the competition attracted a record 202 applications, including 52 from teams working in the defense tech sector. For the first time, international participants were so actively involved: 12 applications were submitted from startups outside Ukraine.
In addition to the investment fund, there is also a grant part — $60,000, which will be divided between the winners. Half of the amount was provided by the Ukrainian Startup Fund, the other half by the Brave1 defense cluster. This year, startups will compete in two categories: general and special for projects in defense tech and cybersecurity.
The grand finale of the Startup Competition will take place on September 27 on the main stage of IT Arena. The conference itself will last from September 26 to 28 at the Arena Lviv stadium and will gather over 6,000 participants from 30 countries. The organizers are IT Arena, Brave1 and USF.
Previously, dev.ua wrote about how the Ministry of Digital Affairs invites startups to present their projects at IT Arena — the largest technology event in Ukraine — and receive funds to scale their ideas.
