Japanese tech giant Rakuten will assist Ukrainian defense startups in scaling their operations abroad.

Six Ukrainian companies focused on defense technology innovations will showcase their solutions at the industry-leading DSEI Japan 2025 exhibition in Chiba from May 21 to 23. This initiative is a collaboration between the Brave1 cluster and the tech giant Rakuten Group, paving the way for domestic dual-use technologies to enter the international market. Among the participants are developers of drones and components for UAVs (SkyFall Industries, Swarmer, Dwarf Engineering), and the Griselda intelligence platform, among others.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian-American startup Stackbooster, specializing in optimizing cloud infrastructure and business applications, announced the launch of an AI-based platform for managing Kubernetes and secured $100,000 in investment. Additionally, the startup has opened a $2M seed funding round to enhance its product and expand into new markets.

On another note, the Wantent startup triumphed as the Ukrainian selection in the international startup competition, Startup World Cup. The platform, which analyzes viewers’ reactions to video content using AI, will represent Ukraine in the Startup World Cup final in San Francisco, where it will vie for $1M.