Daria Solovieva
Despite the ongoing war, Ukrainian startups continue to attract interest from major tech companies.
On June 13, Google announced the newest recipients of its $10 million Ukraine Support Fund, which was launched in February.
The fund, run in partnership with 1991 Ventures – Ukraine’s largest startup accelerator, provides equity-free cash awards of $100,000 along with Google Cloud credits, mentorship and technical assistance to selected Ukrainian-founded tech firms.
Notably, this fund is geared at what happens after the war is over: The support is aimed to “to help entrepreneurs and tech companies continue to lay the groundwork for post-war economic recovery,” the company said.
The Google fund recipients cut across a range of sectors and maturity levels. There is Ailand Systems’ autonomous drones made for detecting landmines in active war zones, but also more conventional enterprise plays like BazaIT’s hiring platform for tech companies and Uspacy’s digital workspace for SMBs.
The startup economy in Central and Eastern Europe has been growing steadily despite the political and economic turmoil, reaching a total estimated valuation of $28 billion. The notion that Eastern European startups exhibit greater tenacity and ambition compared to their Western European counterparts finds support in data: the region has double the number of unicorn companies per funded startup in relation to the European average, according to data compiled by dealroom.co.
Clearly, Google is making a long-term bet that Ukraine’s entrepreneurial dynamism will outlast Putin’s bombs and bullets. With applications open until July for the next funding round, it’s likely just the opening salvo of support from big tech corporates and private investors eyeing the nation’s scrappy upstarts.
After all, the $10 million fund is just a drop in the bucket compared to grander reconstruction efforts brewing. BlackRock and JP Morgan, for instance, have been putting together a $15 billion Ukraine Development Fund from governments and development banks worldwide.
When the dust eventually settles, Ukraine’s most resilient startup survivors could be first in line to lead the wider economic recovery.
Natalie Novakova
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