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- Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov is launching a defense tech company.
- Palantir CEO Alex Karp is set to become its first lead investor.
- The startup aims to turn Ukraine’s wartime technology experience into products for Ukraine and its allies.
Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov is launching a defense technology company backed by Palantir CEO Alex Karp, as the former government official looks to turn Ukraine’s wartime technology experience into products for Kyiv and its allies.
Karp is set to become the company’s first lead investor, according to Fedorov’s press office. The size of the investment was not disclosed.
In a video posted by Fedorov on X on Tuesday, Karp said the company could bring Ukraine’s knowledge and experience of warfare “as a product to allied countries.”
“You and your colleagues are launching a company that I think will be defining for the world,” Karp said.
Few other details about the venture have been disclosed, including its name, the technologies it plans to develop or the extent of Karp’s involvement. Fedorov’s press office declined to provide further information but said they planned to announce the next stages of cooperation with Palantir gradually. Palantir didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The venture comes as Ukraine’s war with Russia has accelerated the development and deployment of technologies including drones, artificial intelligence and battlefield software.
Fedorov, a longtime advocate of using technology to transform Ukraine’s military, said the company would seek to apply lessons learned during the war to technologies that could be used both by Ukraine and its allies.
“During the full-scale war, our team gained unique experience working with defense technologies in Ukraine and seeing firsthand how technology is transforming modern warfare,” Fedorov said in a statement.
Fedorov, 35, was removed as defense minister by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in July as part of a major government reshuffle, after just six months in the role. His dismissal prompted protests in Ukraine.
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Since leaving government, Fedorov has been courting U.S. investors and technology executives as he pursues a series of projects focused on Ukraine’s defense sector.
He is also seeking U.S. backing for a separate defense technology investment fund focused on areas including battlefield robotics, interceptor drones and AI-enabled missiles, the Financial Times reported last week.
The former defense minister had cultivated relationships with prominent U.S. tech executives during the war. Last month, he called Elon Musk “the most important tech person and entrepreneur in the world for our country,” praising Starlink’s move to prevent Russian forces from using the satellite internet service.
