# 86 - Oleksii Markhovskyi, on the reality of being a DefTech entrepreneur in Ukraine

This episode is part of our special series during the Munich Security Conference, where we explore the entrepreneurial realities behind defense and dual-use innovation.

Dariia Rekun speaks with Oleksii Markhovskyi, co-founder of Ukrainian defense tech company Frontline Robotics, and Alina Kizlevych, who works on partnerships at Darkstar and brings deep experience working with defense startups.

The conversation explores what it takes to build a defense tech startup in Ukraine: how teams develop and test products in real battlefieldconditions, what “product market fit” means during wartime, and the mainchallenges Oleksii has faced as a founder, from operations and hiring tofundraising and executing fast.

Together, they discuss what building a company in Ukraine looks like today, the challenges founders face in high-stakes environments, and how Frontline Robotics’ cooperation with Quantum Systems gave rise to e a new German-Ukrainian joint venture strengthening European security.