The Nordics are heating up, y’all.
This morning, Norwegian VC Sandwater announced the launch of a new €80M ($92M) fund called Gardar, which will “[invest] in Ukrainian defence tech startups from Seed to Series B.”
The new fund was set up in conjunction with Ferd AS (a big ol’ family-owned Norwegian investment firm) and Munkene, a “Norwegian volunteer organization passionate about supporting Ukraine” (read: A group of Norwegian investors who have been deploying capital into Ukraine).
“The founders and startups in Ukraine demonstrate ingenuity, persistence, innovation and integrity that has inspired us—and our investors—to raise this fund,” Gardar Managing Partner Erlend Prestgard said in a statement. “Being able to invest in the community is a privilege in itself. It is underfunded, and delivering impact every day. It is also an investment in Europe’s security architecture that we strongly believe needs to be strengthened.”
Some of the richest people in Norway—including Johan H. Andresen, Jens Ulltveit-Moe, Christian Ringnes, and Gustav Witzøe—have all backed the fund, according to reporting by Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv.
Small but mighty: Norway is a pretty heavy hitter when it comes to support for Ukraine. The country is tiny—like, 5.5M people tiny—but because it’s got all that sweet, sweet oil and gas money, it’s been able to provide some pretty impressive backing.
- The country’s flagship support program is called the Nansen Support Programme for Ukraine, a multi-year support package that has about $25B allocated to it through 2030.
- For 2026 alone, the country has allocated $8.5B towards support for Ukraine—about $7B for military support and $1.5B for civilian and humanitarian assistance.
- Early in the war, Norway sent lots and lots of systems (everything from air defense to F-16s) to Ukraine, but now the country is also investing in the Ukrainian defense industry itself.
- In 2025, the country said it would spend about $330M on equipment purchased directly from Ukrainian manufacturers and about $57M on Ukrainian drones.
- In April, Ukraine and Norway announced a formal agreement to produce Ukrainian-designed drones in Norway and support drone production in Ukraine.
- Last year, Ukraine and Norway also announced the $21.8M Brave-Norway program to fund Ukrainian defense startups.
Big boys: A big part of Norway’s impact in Ukraine has been through Kongsberg—that little defense tech startup (jokes). The company has set up shop on the ground in Ukraine, signed agreements with Ukrainian firms, and is looking to co-produce missiles and air defense systems in-country.
- Several of Kongsberg’s NASAMS air-defense systems (National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, developed with Raytheon) have been donated to Ukraine by Norway, Lithuania, the US, and others.
- The company has also inked deals to co-produce USVs and low-cost interceptors with “unnamed Ukrainian companies” in the country.
On the line: Gardar says that this new pile o’ cash will go towards tech already “operational at the front in Ukraine.”
- The idea is to both boost Ukraine’s defense industry (and economy), and scale up tech that could better European defense.
- The theory here is that Ukrainian tech will become pretty critical to European security in the coming years, so the country presents “compelling investment opportunities as a result,” per the company.
- Logistics-wise, the company will operate out of Sandwater ($466.78M AUM, per Pitchbook data).
And it sounds like they’ve already started doling out some of that sweet, sweet defense tech cash.
“Having met some of the young entrepreneurs behind the companies that Gardar invests in, I have been truly inspired by people who work day and night to build technology that saves lives and protects their country,” Sandwater partner Torkel Engeness said in a statement. “Ukraine’s defence tech start-ups have made an extraordinary contribution, not just to their own country, but to the security of all of Europe.”