Ukraine plans to launch state-backed Startup and Innovation Fund by autumn

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Ukraine expects to launch state-backed Startup and Innovation Fund by autumn 2019, writes UkraineInvest Chairman Daniel Bilak.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman has confirmed that the country’s state-backed Startup and Innovation Fund is on schedule for launch in autumn 2019. The Fund, which will be headed by the Minister of Finance and aims to support the growth of the country’s exciting but under-resourced startup scene, will be able to offer state funding to promising projects from an initial budget allocation of UAH 400 million.

With the Ukrainian IT industry now a major contributor to national GDP, there is increasing recognition of the country’s startup sector as an untapped engine of economic growth.

The Ukrainian capital Kyiv was recently among the biggest gainers globally in the 2019 StartupBlink Report, which ranks cities in terms of their startup ecosystems. Kyiv took thirty-fourth position globally in the latest edition of the report, representing a year-on-year leap of twenty-nine places.

As reported earlier, over the past year, the venture capital investments in Ukrainian IT companies have totaled $336.9 million. Recently the Estonian startup flagship Lift99 has opened a new hub in Kyiv.

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