DARC — Defence Advisory, Resilience & Communications
DARC — Defence Advisory, Resilience & Communications
Ten years of building and implementing market entry strategies for technology companies. DARC applies that to Ukraine’s defence sector, for manufacturers in the EU and the US.
Ten years of building and implementing market entry strategies for technology companies. DARC applies that to Ukraine’s defence sector, for manufacturers in the EU and the US.
HOW WE GOT HERE
2016
Solus agency begins
An agency built around one job: taking technology companies into markets they had never operated in. Go-to-market strategy, positioning, and the ground work that follows it.
An agency built around one job: taking technology companies into markets they had never operated in. Go-to-market strategy, positioning, and the ground work that follows it.
2021
Solus Group forms
MergeWave Capital and several other companies were founded out of Solus, and the practices consolidated into a group — strategy, capital and transactions under one roof rather than three separate conversations.
MergeWave Capital and several other companies were founded out of Solus, and the practices consolidated into a group — strategy, capital and transactions under one roof rather than three separate conversations.
2023
MergeWave Capital opens defence evaluation
The group began assessing the defence sector seriously — mapping counterparties, structures and where an investment banking approach would apply. The groundwork that made 2025 possible.
The group began assessing the defence sector seriously — mapping counterparties, structures and where an investment banking approach would apply. The groundwork that made 2025 possible.
2025
MergeWave expands into defence
This time with the market open on both sides: European manufacturers looking for a route in, Ukrainian producers looking for partners and capital.
This time with the market open on both sides: European manufacturers looking for a route in, Ukrainian producers looking for partners and capital.
2026
DARC — is founded
Built for one reason before any commercial one: we are Ukrainians, and this is the sector that decides whether the country holds. Ten years of market entry work, pointed at the market we live in.
Built for one reason before any commercial one: we are Ukrainians, and this is the sector that decides whether the country holds. Ten years of market entry work, pointed at the market we live in.
What the ten years covered
01
Transactions · MergeWave Capital
Haulotte × UUT — the first France–Ukraine defence co-production. Four months from introduction to signature, covered by Forbes Ukraine
Euvic Group — exclusive M&A adviser in Ukraine to the 6,000-person Polish IT consortium. Five acquisitions to date: Exoft, Artkai, 7Devs, Lampa Software and Diya
ASEE Group × Askep.net — the first M&A between an international institutional buyer and a Ukrainian SaaS company since the full-scale invasion. ASEE sits inside Asseco Group, capitalised at around $2B
75+ M&As, joint ventures and commercial transactions completed · $11B portfolio enterprise value across mandates
Transactions · MergeWave Capital
02
Market entry · Solus Group
Go-to-market strategy and positioning for technology companies entering territories they had never operated in
Communications built for technical audiences and institutional buyers, not consumer marketing
Tier-one clients in their categories — including Ondo Finance, holding a leading position in real-world asset tokenisation
Full-scale expansion programme for Kraken in Ukraine
03
Events and gatherings
Paris, Eurosatory week — a private event with GALION GROUP and Thannberger.Gruman & Co. that put roughly 70% of the enterprise defence market in one room: Ukraine’s leading defence companies alongside the French Ministry of Defence, senior European officials and primes including TAF Industries, KNDS France and KONGSBERG. The first Franco-Ukrainian agreement under the Build with Ukraine framework was shared there privately, ahead of its public presentation at Eurosatory the following day
Defence City meetup — a closed gathering for defence industry leaders hosted by MergeWave, on M&A, strategic partnerships and collaboration models with EU and US primes. More than 100 companies attended, with a charity auction alongside it for the Ptashky Peremohy foundation
Lviv Invest Forum — co-organised by MergeWave, with the group moderating the investment panels
Major events organised with leading technology representatives — Ukraine, the UAE, Singapore and France
01
Transactions · MergeWave Capital
Haulotte × UUT — the first France–Ukraine defence co-production. Four months from introduction to signature, covered by Forbes Ukraine
Euvic Group — exclusive M&A adviser in Ukraine to the 6,000-person Polish IT consortium. Five acquisitions to date: Exoft, Artkai, 7Devs, Lampa Software and Diya
ASEE Group × Askep.net — the first M&A between an international institutional buyer and a Ukrainian SaaS company since the full-scale invasion. ASEE sits inside Asseco Group, capitalised at around $2B
75+ M&As, joint ventures and commercial transactions completed · $11B portfolio enterprise value across mandates
Transactions · MergeWave Capital
02
Market entry · Solus Group
Go-to-market strategy and positioning for technology companies entering territories they had never operated in
Communications built for technical audiences and institutional buyers, not consumer marketing
Tier-one clients in their categories — including Ondo Finance, holding a leading position in real-world asset tokenisation
Full-scale expansion programme for Kraken in Ukraine
Market entry · Solus Group
03
Events and gatherings
Paris, Eurosatory week — a private event with GALION GROUP and Thannberger.Gruman & Co. that put roughly 70% of the enterprise defence market in one room: Ukraine’s leading defence companies alongside the French Ministry of Defence, senior European officials and primes including TAF Industries, KNDS France and KONGSBERG. The first Franco-Ukrainian agreement under the Build with Ukraine framework was shared there privately, ahead of its public presentation at Eurosatory the following day
Defence City meetup — a closed gathering for defence industry leaders hosted by MergeWave, on M&A, strategic partnerships and collaboration models with EU and US primes. More than 100 companies attended, with a charity auction alongside it for the Ptashky Peremohy foundation
Lviv Invest Forum — co-organised by MergeWave, with the group moderating the investment panels
Major events organised with leading technology representatives — Ukraine, the UAE, Singapore and France
Events and gatherings
01
Transactions · MergeWave Capital
Haulotte × UUT — the first France–Ukraine defence co-production. Four months from introduction to signature, covered by Forbes Ukraine
Euvic Group — exclusive M&A adviser in Ukraine to the 6,000-person Polish IT consortium. Five acquisitions to date: Exoft, Artkai, 7Devs, Lampa Software and Diya
ASEE Group × Askep.net — the first M&A between an international institutional buyer and a Ukrainian SaaS company since the full-scale invasion. ASEE sits inside Asseco Group, capitalised at around $2B
75+ M&As, joint ventures and commercial transactions completed · $11B portfolio enterprise value across mandates
Transactions · MergeWave Capital
02
Market entry · Solus Group
Go-to-market strategy and positioning for technology companies entering territories they had never operated in
Communications built for technical audiences and institutional buyers, not consumer marketing
Tier-one clients in their categories — including Ondo Finance, holding a leading position in real-world asset tokenisation
Full-scale expansion programme for Kraken in Ukraine
Market entry · Solus Group
03
Events and gatherings
Paris, Eurosatory week — a private event with GALION GROUP and Thannberger.Gruman & Co. that put roughly 70% of the enterprise defence market in one room: Ukraine’s leading defence companies alongside the French Ministry of Defence, senior European officials and primes including TAF Industries, KNDS France and KONGSBERG. The first Franco-Ukrainian agreement under the Build with Ukraine framework was shared there privately, ahead of its public presentation at Eurosatory the following day
Defence City meetup — a closed gathering for defence industry leaders hosted by MergeWave, on M&A, strategic partnerships and collaboration models with EU and US primes. More than 100 companies attended, with a charity auction alongside it for the Ptashky Peremohy foundation
Lviv Invest Forum — co-organised by MergeWave, with the group moderating the investment panels
Major events organised with leading technology representatives — Ukraine, the UAE, Singapore and France
Events and gatherings
What we see in this market
Demand exists
The companies want in
European and US manufacturers are no longer asking whether Ukraine matters. They are asking how to get here — and most of them do not know where the first step is.
Demand exists
The companies want in
European and US manufacturers are no longer asking whether Ukraine matters. They are asking how to get here — and most of them do not know where the first step is.
Infrastructure exists
The programmes work
Brave1, Test in Ukraine, Defence City, the export framework. The state has built real routes in, the documentation is public, and the procedures do what they say.
Infrastructure exists
The programmes work
Brave1, Test in Ukraine, Defence City, the export framework. The state has built real routes in, the documentation is public, and the procedures do what they say.
The gap
Nothing in the middle
Between a published procedure and a signed contract sits everything nobody writes down: who actually manufactures, who can be trusted, what fails in transit, and who answers the phone.
The gap
Nothing in the middle
Between a published procedure and a signed contract sits everything nobody writes down: who actually manufactures, who can be trusted, what fails in transit, and who answers the phone.
Every conversation ends at the same question, and it is never a question about regulation. It is who inside Ukraine will do this with us.
What we do about it
We are your operator inside the country. Not an adviser sending reports from a distance — a team on the ground, in the room, with the capabilities the work actually requires.
001
Partners
Matching from a screened pipeline of 85+ companies, not a search that starts when you ask.
002
Testing
Polygon and battlefield testing with operating units, returned as a written performance record.
003
Access
Government bodies, defence clusters and the procurement conversations behind them.
004
Communications
Two audiences at once: the Ukrainian ecosystem, and NATO procurement everywhere else.
Whatever you need from Ukraine, we would rather find the way to do it than explain why it is complicated — in a way that benefits you and the country at the same time.
Founding Team
Named people with public records you can check. In this market that is not a courtesy — it is the minimum standard of proof.
The full team and advisory board
The full team and advisory board
Questions we get asked
How much does it cost to enter the Ukrainian defence market?
How much does it cost to enter the Ukrainian defence market?
How long does Ukraine market entry take?
How long does Ukraine market entry take?
What do I actually have to do to enter the market?
What do I actually have to do to enter the market?
How does a foreign company test its product in Ukraine?
How does a foreign company test its product in Ukraine?
How do I find a Ukrainian defence manufacturing partner?
How do I find a Ukrainian defence manufacturing partner?
Does entering Ukraine require a local entity or capital investment?
Does entering Ukraine require a local entity or capital investment?
How is DARC related to MergeWave Capital?
How is DARC related to MergeWave Capital?