In 2023, the Ukrainian tech scene was still affected by the war, with even more startups developing abroad — in particular in the EU, rather than in the US, which is relatively new. The year also saw several Ukrainian IT firms being acquired by foreign players, while some Ukrainian companies pursued their expansion abroad. While large investment deals were scarce, international finance institutions committed more than $250 million to a new PE/VC fund managed by Horizon Capital. A few other foreign programs were launched to support Ukrainian innovators.
Deals
- Ukrainian-founded neobank company raises $22 million in the UK (April)
- Live language learning platform Preply secures $70 million to bring AI to human teaching (July)
- Two Ukrainian software developers make acquisitions in the EU (September)
- Ukrainian Hypra backs IT service company Trinetix to support global expansion plans (October)
- A Polish IT giant’s acquisition spree in Ukraine: Three companies absorbed this year, more to come in 2024 (December)
- Most notable investment deals of the year (AIN’s selection)
Startups
- Ukrainian video service Megogo launches in Poland (February)
- How Ukrainian startups survive amid bombs, blackouts and evacuations (February)
- After two decades of US attraction, Europe is becoming a new haven for Ukrainian startups (October)
- 12 Ukrainian startups launched in 2023 (AIN’s selection)
Military tech
- Ukraine launches tech cluster to increase defense capabilities (April)
- Ukraine offers $1m reward at anti-drone hackathon (June)
- How Ukraine has become a testing ground for new military technologies (July)
- German Quantum-Systems raises €63m with plans to increase drone supplies to Ukraine (November)
Policy making
- Ukraine in search of a digital and green future (June)
- Mykhailo Fedorov: Ukraine can inspire governments worldwide as they will eventually go digital (August)
International support
- International financial institutions commit record $254m to Ukraine-based PE fund (April)
- IFC announces further massive support of Ukraine’s IT-driven reconstruction (July)
- EBRD and Greencubator launch new Ukrainian edition of green grant program (September)
- New EBRD-backed acceleration program aims to help Ukrainian scale-ups “break the ceiling glass” (October)
- European Commission launches €20m program to integrate Ukrainian startups to EU ecosystem (December)
Industry reports
- At $7.3 billion, Ukraine’s IT service export reached an all-time record in 2022 (January)
- AVentures: Investment in Ukrainian startups fell sharply in 2022 (May)
- Sequoia: “Ukrainian talent proves resilient” (June)
- AIN: Half of Ukrainian funds stopped investing in the country amid the war (September)
- “Book of Ukrainian Tech” navigates industry’s highs and lows since 2022 (November)
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