Tencore, the Ukrainian startup behind battlefield-ready unmanned ground vehicles (UGV), has secured $3.74 million in funding from MITS Capital, a Ukrainian-American investment group.
The company's flagship product is TerMIT, a NATO-standardized multi-mission robotics platform. TerMIT has already been deployed on the front lines and has proven its effectiveness in combat scenarios.
Tencore says it has produced over 800 units to date and plans to scale the number to 2,000 by the end of 2025.
Details of the deal
The round was led by MITS Capital, a Kyiv- and New York-based investment group, backing Ukrainian defence tech. Co-founded in 2024 by Perry Boyle, a former Point72 hedge fund executive, and Denys Gurak, previously a venture partner at FF Venture Capital, and Anton Melnyk, a former advisor at the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, the firm operates an accelerator, an investment advisory, and the MITS Lightning Fund.
The Lightning Fund focuses on pre-seed, seed, and Series A deals, and as of 2024, has been raising a $50 million fund. Its portfolio includes 11 companies, among them M-FLY and Teletactika.
The fresh funding will support Tencore in scaling both its R&D and manufacturing capacities.
What makes the deal interesting
The deal was structured under Ukraine’s government-backed Diia.City legal regime, with funds deployed directly into Tencore’s Ukrainian legal entity — a move that sets a precedent for future international investments in the country's defence tech sector.
"This agreement creates a clear legal path for international investors to deploy capital directly into Ukrainian entities without workarounds," said Denys Gurak, CIO & Founding Partner at MITS Capital.
Launched in February 2022, Diia.City provides a legal framework for convertible loan agreements, with additional protection built into contracts, including clauses specifying governing law and arbitration venues in jurisdictions whose decisions are automatically recognized in Ukraine.
"This mechanism makes investing in Ukrainian legal entities as secure as investing in a Delaware C-Corp or an Estonian e-Residency company," Gurak claimed.
In simple terms, this deal is notable because it could open the door to easier and faster investments in local startups, especially in strategic sectors like defence tech.
