Priya patelTLDR:
- Ukraine has been a major tech hub in Eastern Europe, producing numerous notable startups.
- The country received $832 million in venture capital funding in 2021.
Ukraine has been a major tech hub in Eastern Europe, producing numerous notable startups. Despite the ongoing war in the country, the tech sector remains strong, with tech being its largest service export in 2023. The Lviv IT Cluster predicts that the tech sector will continue to grow and recover despite the impact of the war. The war has also given rise to defense tech startups specializing in electronic warfare (EW) and robotics development.
Here are some of the top Ukrainian startups that have contributed to the country’s tech sector and economy:
1. Monobank: A FinTech startup known for its mobile banking services. It originally started as a retail product of Universal Bank and accounted for a significant portion of Universal Bank’s revenue.
2. Preply: An online teaching platform that connects tutors and students worldwide. It has expanded its market to more than 180 countries and recently received $70 million in funding to integrate artificial intelligence into online tutoring.
3. Grammarly: A typing assistant that reviews spelling, grammar, and punctuation in English texts. It has incorporated new functionalities such as plagiarism checking and AI writing assistants. In 2021, it raised $200 million at a $13 billion valuation.
4. GitLab: An online code repository for software development and collaboration. It is considered one of Ukraine’s first unicorns and recently entered a strategic partnership with Google to develop enterprise AI offerings.
5. Reface AI: A startup known for its deep fake face-swapping application. It gained popularity in 2020 and raised $5.5 million in funding from US investors.
6. Ajax Systems: A startup that develops and manufactures security systems. It sells its products to over 120 countries worldwide and prides itself on producing devices completely from scratch.
7. People.ai: An AI platform that collects and analyzes sales and marketing-related data to help businesses close deals. It recently became a unicorn startup after receiving funding from the Emirati Mubadala Investment Company and the American fund Akkadian Venture.
8. MacPaw: A tech company that develops apps and services for Apple Mac users. It is known for hosting one of the largest collections of Apple Mac computers in the world and recently enlisted tennis player Elina Svitolina as its global brand ambassador.
9. PetCube: A startup that develops software and hardware for pet owners to monitor and interact with their pets remotely. It has raised a total of $14.1 million in funding.
10. Respeecher: A speech synthesis software company that utilizes AI technologies. Its technology has been used by film studios such as Lucasfilm and Sony Interactive Entertainment, including in Disney+’s The Book of Boba Fett. It has raised $3 million in funding.
