When air raid sirens sound in Kyiv, developers don’t always close their laptops. They reach for power banks, relocate to provisional underground shelters, and keep coding.

Between October 2023 and March 2026, while working under the shadow of rocket strikes, rolling blackouts, and disrupted supply chains, hundreds of Ukrainian scientists, engineers, and founders were quietly building the future of deep tech. They were developing wideband high-power amplifiers, circular economy solutions, and next-generation software, all while fighting to keep their companies afloat in an active war zone.

Supporting innovation in ideal market conditions is challenging enough. Supporting deep tech ventures inside a crisis territory is an operational hurdle of a completely different order.

Acting as Seeds of Bravery coordinator, FundingBox Accelerator managed a €20 million total budget to orchestrate the most ambitious cascade funding (equity free funding) initiative ever executed in a conflict zone under Horizon Europe.

Financed, reviewed and approved by the European Innovation Council, the initiative earned recognition as one of the agency’s most visible and impactful programs. Beyond the statistics, Seeds of Bravery proved that targeted capital, agile governance, and human solidarity can keep an entire innovation ecosystem thriving against all inequalities.

Orchestrating crisis governance

Managing a pan-European consortium of 19 international partners and over 120 specialists across seven distinct workstreams requires rigorous structure under normal circumstances. Managing it during wartime requires radical adaptability.

As project coordinator, FundingBox had to build a governance system resilient enough to absorb severe real-world shocks. Power outages regularly disrupted communications, and war escalations threatened to stall critical reporting cycles.

Speed, scale, and rigorous capital distribution

The heart of the initiative was its Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP) mechanism, a cascade funding model designed to move money quickly into the hands of early-stage innovators. Over the course of 10 rapid cut-off cycles, the consortium handled more than 1,400 full applications.

Distributing nearly €12 million in equity-free capital at record speed while maintaining strict European evaluation standards required extraordinary coordination. The initiative’s Selection Committee, comprising experts from USF, PNP, ACC, INNOV, HOS, EIT Health, and FundingBox, convened 42 times to rigorously evaluate over 920 technical reports and validate individual grant payments.

By the end of the program, FundingBox had signed 459 Sub-Grant Agreements with 324 grantees, directly funding 318 unique Ukrainian deep tech companies.

“The financial support enabled us to maintain operations, retain core technical talent, and adapt our circular economy technologies during critical operational disruptions.”

— Beneficiary, Environmental & Circular Economy Sector

For many teams, this funding was the single factor that prevented liquidation, allowing critical R&D talent to remain in the country rather than scattering during the crisis.

Breaking geographic isolation

Capital alone cannot sustain a tech company; founders need access to international markets, investors, and strategic partners. War inherently creates geographic and operational isolation, cutting off early-stage founders from the broader European market.

To bridge this gap, Seeds of Bravery moved beyond financial grants to provide non-financial support, including customized growth pathways, strategic mentorship, and direct ecosystem integration.

“Connecting with European ecosystems removed our geographic isolation and opened direct commercial conversations with international partners.”

— Founder, Retail Tech Sector

By integrating Ukrainian entrepreneurs into the broader European innovation network, the project helped transform local startups into competitors in the international market.

Turning grants into growth

The ultimate validation of any public innovation grant is its ability to crowd in private capital. Seeds of Bravery exceeded expectations by acting as a powerful economic catalyst.

Supported alumni went on to secure over €30,000,000 in follow-on capital. In practical terms, every euro distributed through the project’s cascade funding mechanism catalyzed more than double its value in external capital.

“Securing grant funding provided the exact validation needed to attract private investors for our technology.”

— Grantee, Advanced Semiconductor Technology Sector

This follow-on investment demonstrates that the initiative was not merely a relief fund; it was a high-return venture catalyst that identified and de-risked high-potential technologies for the global market.

A blueprint for European innovation

The conclusion of Seeds of Bravery marks more than the end of a successful 30-month contract. It offers a clear, repeatable blueprint for managing complex, high-risk innovation initiatives across Europe.

By combining robust digital platform funding distribution infrastructure (OnePass), strict regulatory compliance, and a deeply human, flexible approach to crisis management, FundingBox demonstrated how complex consortia can deliver rapid impact in the most demanding environments imaginable.

As European research and innovation programs increasingly face unpredictable geopolitical and economic landscapes, the lessons learned from Seeds of Bravery will shape the future of open call administration and cascade funding. The project proved that when financial systems are built around human resilience, even an ecosystem under fire can grow, innovate, and lead on the world stage.

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*We used AI to polish the text.

Sources: Project Final Report written by the Seeds of Bravery Project Consortium (101104445 — UASEEDs) and Review Report issued by the EUROPEAN INNOVATION COUNCIL AND SMES EXECUTIVE AGENCY (EISMEA)