List of 400+ Startups In Ukraine & Why Do We Even Need An Ecosystem
There’s no universal recipe for building a startup ecosystem. The first thing you need to do before starting — is to carefully observe the ingredients on your table. Because if you’re missing even one of them, the result will taste a lot different in the end.
An ecosystem is a “system, or a group of interconnected elements, formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their environment”. In the core, every startup ecosystem is formed by people and of the startups in their various stages, with all their challenges, opportunities, various partners and a wide network of interactions, in order to create and scale opportunities for further expansion of these very same startups.
But who even are those startups? How many are there? What are they struggling with? And how can the rest of us help them succeed, right here in Ukraine, and beyond? Because a blossoming startup ecosystem brings a mountain of value back into the country in the form of growing economy, creation of more jobs, elevation of living-standards, positive country-image on the global scene, growth of tourism. The list goes on.
The exisiting startups in Ukraine are the heroes of this story. They are the ones already creating opportunities for themselves, and if they succeed, for the whole country in general. That’s why we’ve created a list of 400+ Ukrainian startups - to gather into one place the core of the Ukrainian startup ecosystem, the most important ingredient, the startups themselves.
That’s why we’ve created a list of 400+ Ukrainian startups - to gather the core of the Ukrainian startup ecosystem into one place.
Who, what, and how
Building a collaborative startup ecosystem requires a community mindset, as well as shared goals and ideology for all of its players. When we all decide to consider the common value we can orchestrate through collaboration within our ecosystem, we can help our startups to overcome their challenges and grow at 100 times the speed of their predecessors. The key aspirations are not an expression of what we create individually, as startuppers, solo-entrepreneurs, newcomers, or whoever we are.
At LIFT99, we’re dedicated to helping founders overcome these challenges. And use all our resources, know-how, and network to bring more opportunities for local startups. It’s always a two-way road.
On one hand, it means that we work within our Kyiv Hub. It’s a nest, a home-base, we offer for the startup ecosystem. We invite speakers, investors, and talented people who already have succeeded in the startup sector. The startups in our community have mentors and specialized organizations they can work together with; they can share ideas and experiences, practical learnings, because ideas are worth nothing without execution.
LIFTOFF with James Berdigans, CEO @ Printify
“How to build unicorns?” event at LIFT99 Kyiv Hub
On the other hand, we build a community inside and around our hub to stand for this know-how and passion for getting better and sharing it with others, because passion sparks passion. And founders don’t have to invent bicycles with every decision — they can learn a lot from each other’s challenges and support each other on the way. Internationally, and way outside of Ukraine as well.
” We build a community inside and around our hub to stand for this know-how and passion for getting better and sharing it with others, because passion sparks passion.
Besides the work inside and outside of the hubs, we are also working abroad and having a dialogue with ecosystem builders and enablers on world scale. In order for Ukraine, as one united front, to become a global player in the startup field, we have to step into conversation with other global players.
Our challenge is getting the ecosystem together, bringing a shared goal on the table. A goal that touches all the startups we have so far. How can we, as a united ecosystem, bring more opportunities for them? This is a great question.
Mapping the local startups
As an extension to the above point, to light the spark of building sustainable startup ecosystem through collaboration and giving back mindset, it’s important to first map and cultivate local startup companies.
Being able to talk about Ukraine on the global startup scene and have the eyes of the world on this sprouting tech hub with immense potential to build great startup products right here, without ever leaving the country, we need the state of where we are now. We need to know the actual startups behind the number of “2000” or “400” or are there more of Ukrainian startups?
Because who are they, and what do they struggle with? If they’re anonymous, we don’t know. And we don’t actually know about their challenges, and of the opportunities they have to fight for themselves, without the ecosystem backing them up.
400+ startups and growing
This list of 400+ Ukrainian startups is crowdsourced. And while we are curating it and standing guard for its growth and existence, it’s something for everyone to benefit from. To find new deals, partnerships, or maybe even just encouragement and inspiration.
A screenshot from the list of 400+ Ukrainian startups
To help startup leaders map Ukrainian ecosystem, boost collaboration, and support newcomers, we need to have this first look of where we are now. It will eventually represent one of the components of startup ecosystem.
From here on, we all have a chance to take action — and to develop a value-driven ecosystem of Ukrainian startups. To stand for what we believe in and to take steps towards it. We’re building a world where startups are proud to say they’re Ukrainian, and founders have every chance of succeeding here, even more than they would in the Valley.
It will take time. But step by step we’ll get there. Together.
If you know any more startups, add them as a comment in the document. We will curate these comments on a regular basis and keep on doing our own research to keep the list growing and up to date.
So what’s it like being a founder with and Ukrainian background, building an Ukrainian startup, today? And what can we do today to build a fruitful ecosystem in 5 years?
These and some other essential topics we’re going to discuss with some of the leading startups founders, opinion leaders, international investors, and ecosystem players during the Grand Launch of Ukrainian Startup Wall of Fame.
It will take place in LIFT99 Kyiv Hub, on October 24th. Join us to share this special cause and be a part of a meaningful discussion about the past, present, and future of Ukraine as startup country.