Defense Tech & Physical AI Investment Platform
Target size: $500M+
Mellivora is Latin for honey badger, chosen deliberately. The animal operates where others won't, moves through terrain that stops everything else, and has a resilience built into its biology that is entirely disproportionate to its size. Like Ukraine these days.
Battlefield to Enterprise Flywheel
Frontline demand forces fast iteration -> combat-proven autonomy and hardware -> the same platforms move into logistics, mining, agriculture and manufacturing under Robot-as-a-Service -> enterprise revenue and data fund the next generation for the front. One technology base, two customer sets, one compounding loop.
Dealflow Engine
Proprietary sourcing through the Kyiv accelerator, frontline unit feedback, Brave1 and Ukrainian defense clusters, plus US, UK and MENA partners who turn technical winners into contracts faster.
1500 screened • 180 diligenced • 12 invested
Value Creation
Customer access (Ukrainian MoD and Brave1, allied ministries, defense primes, industrial buyers) / Commercialization platform (Middle East and EU deployment partners, pilots, co-invest capital, RaaS fleet financing)
Hard-tech ops (manufacturing scale-up, certification and codification, export licensing, security and compliance)
Portfolio Compounding
We underwrite technical moats plus shared procurement paths (Ukrainian MoD, allied ministries, defense primes, industrial buyers). Portfolio companies supply, integrate and sell to each other: a UGV maker uses a portfolio autonomy stack, an EW company protects a portfolio drone fleet. Shorter time to revenue, higher strategic value.
Geo Edge
Ukraine
Rearmament budgets, joint procurement programs and defense primes looking for proven Ukrainian capabilities.
EU
Rearmament budgets, joint procurement programs and defense primes looking for proven Ukrainian capabilities.
US & UK
Largest buyers and exit paths (defense primes, new-generation defense companies, industrials) plus deep-tech operator and research networks.
Middle East
Robot-as-a-Service deployment market, strategic buyers, scale capital and infrastructure build-out.
Igor Ovcharenko
Managing Partner (Kyiv - Riyadh)
Igor is a Ukrainian investor with 13 years in venture capital, startup ecosystems and angel investing across emerging markets. He has made 30+ VC investments and 6 angel investments across CEE, MENA, Central Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa and co-founded three funds.
Previously Regional Manager for CEE and MENA at Seedstars, Chief Innovation Officer at the Innovation and Digital Development Agency of Azerbaijan, and Head of Global Programs at Global Innovation Catalyst. He leads the accelerator, the Gulf commercialization track and the Robot-as-a-Service business.
A civil and industrial engineer by training, former professional footballer and 70.3 Ironman finisher.
Arthur Grigoriants
Managing Partner, Physical AI & Robot-as-a-Service (Dubai, UAE)
Arthur has spent more than a decade putting automated hardware into the field at scale. Since 2012 he has helped build Omnic, the Italian smart-locker and self-service automation company, from an early team into a manufacturer with 45 patents, deployments in 30+ countries across Europe, MENA and Asia, and a Guinness World Record for the largest single-venue parcel-locker installation.
He is a board member of LLAMA BOX, a Saudi smart-locker and last-mile network, and Senior Partner at IOI Capital in Riyadh. Earlier he led digital-transformation programs for large retail, logistics and e-commerce companies (1,400+ advisory hours) and worked in San Francisco and Kyiv. He is an early-stage investor and mentor in logistics, e-commerce and edtech.
At Mellivora he leads the Robot-as-a-Service business: sourcing fleets, structuring long-term leases and running Gulf deployments with enterprise customers. A management graduate, he started his career in AMD distribution.
Peter Kolomiets
Founding Partner (London, UK)
Peter is an ex-Special Forces officer, serial entrepreneur and investor with two exits. He co-founded the Make It Real Foundation, which has supported civilians in Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war, and is Founder & CEO of JobCannon, where AI replaces manual recruiting work from sourcing to scheduling. He leads the fund's relationships with military end users and allied procurement.
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25+ years of combined experience in venture capital, private equity and trust fund management
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Co-founders of 4 startups (2 exits), 3 VC funds and 2 trust funds (vintages 2021, 2022, 2024)
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Ukrainian founders with direct access to the MoD, Brave1, frontline units and the domestic defense industry
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Proprietary dealflow through co-investors, ecosystem partners and portfolio companies in Ukraine, the Gulf, the UK and the US
Advisors
Marvin Liao
Global Macro Investor with a Speciality in Startups. Operator-Investor. Portfolio Entrepreneur.
José Achache
Space technologies and intelligence
Dealflow Engine
Exit Map
Strategics
Hyperscalers / Defense primes / Industrials / Semis & Networking / Cyber platforms
Investors
Tech-focused PE / Growth equity / Continuation vehicles
Fund Summary
Platform Size
$500M+ target: Accelerator $100M+, Roll-up Fund $350M+, Co-Invest Syndicate deal by deal
Structure
Three vehicles under one GP: Accelerator (closed-end, early stage), Roll-up Fund (evergreen, late stage and acquisitions, owns the RaaS fleet), Co-Invest Syndicate (deal-by-deal SPVs)
Term
Accelerator 10 (+2) years; Roll-up Fund open-ended with periodic liquidity windows; Syndicate SPVs per deal
Investment Period
Accelerator 4 years; Roll-up Fund continuous
Domiciliation
Master-feeder: Delaware (U.S.) master with Cayman (offshore) feeder; Ukrainian and EU holding entities where required for defense procurement
Geography
Ukraine first; US, UK, EU (rearmament), MENA (RaaS deployment market)
Stage
Pre-seed -> Series A (Accelerator); Series B -> buyout and acquisitions (Roll-up Fund); bridge rounds (Syndicate)
Industry Focus
Ground robotics/UGV; UAV and Loitering Munitions; Autonomy and C2 Software; EW, C-UAS and Sensing; Physical AI / RaaS for Enterprise.
Key Locations
Kyiv: accelerator, dealflow, frontline testing.
Washington: largest buyers and exit paths.
London: research density, operator network, European primes.
Dubai + Riyadh: RaaS deployments, strategic buyers, scale capital
Investments
Accelerator: 40-50 companies, initial cheques $250K-$1.5M, reserves 40-50%. Roll-up Fund: 10-15 core positions, $10-40M each, plus RaaS fleet capex. Syndicate: $1-5M per bridge
Target Equity Stake
Accelerator 4-15%; Roll-up Fund 25-100% (minority to control)
Financial Instruments
Preferred equity, SAFEs and notes at early stage; structured tranched rounds tied to milestones; venture debt on awarded contracts; asset financing for the RaaS fleet
Robot-as-a-Service
Fund buys best-in-class robots and leases them to enterprises on 3-5 year contracts; target net fleet yield 15%+ unlevered, contract payback under 4 years (confirm against your fleet model)
GP Commitment
1%
Management Fee
Accelerator: 2.0% on committed during investment period, 1.5% on cost thereafter. Roll-up Fund: 1.5% on NAV
Carry
Accelerator: 20% / 25% above 2x DPI. Roll-up Fund: 15% over an 8% hurdle, crystallised annually (verify)
Targeted IRR
18-22% fund-level; RaaS sleeve targets contracted cash yield plus equity upside
LP Commitment
Institutions $10M+; family offices $5M+; strategic corporates via side letters and the co-invest program; Syndicate members from $100K per deal