People - Ukraine Digital News

Ukrainian-born serial entrepreneur Max Polyakov sells performance marketing company to US adtech major

March 9, 2023 March 16, 2023

Earlier this week Digital Media Solutions, a major US provider of high-tech digital advertising solutions, announced the acquisition of the ClickDealer’s media and technology assets, including the HomeQuote marketplace. ClickDealer was founded back in 2012 by three Ukrainian entrepreneurs: Max Polyakov, Tetiana Serediuk, and Dmytro Atamaniuk. Initially an affiliate network covering several niche verticals, the company …

Ukrainian-born serial entrepreneur Max Polyakov sells performance marketing company to US adtech major Read More

How Ukrainian startups survive “amid bombs, blackouts and evacuations” (podcast)

February 20, 2023 February 21, 2023

Recently Sifted, a major tech news outlet in Europe, met the founders of “some of the continent’s most resilient startups.” These Ukrainians are the heroes of a special podcast that appeared last week on the Sifted website. The program shows how these entrepreneurs, their teams and investors, sometimes “trapped in basements with Russian troops on …

How Ukrainian startups survive “amid bombs, blackouts and evacuations” (podcast) Read More

French and US businessmen announce €50 million new fund for Ukrainian startups

January 24, 2023 February 1, 2023

A team of French and US industry veterans is in the process of raising €50 million to support Ukrainian startups. Dubbed ‘Ukrainian Phoenix Fund,’ the new venture fund plans to invest in around 150 startups at the pre-seed and seed stages, said co-founder Dominique Piotet in an exchange with Ukraine Digital News. Funding in its …

French and US businessmen announce €50 million new fund for Ukrainian startups Read More

Australian firm opens office in Kyiv to train cyber warriors

January 17, 2023 January 19, 2023

Internet 2.0, an internationally-renowned Australian cybersecurity company, will train Ukrainian war veterans to ward off hackers as part of the nation’s defense efforts. Visiting Ukraine in December 2022, the company’s CEO Robert Potter signed an MoU with the ministry of digital transformation, according to media reports. He announced the opening of an office in Kyiv, aiming to support …

Australian firm opens office in Kyiv to train cyber warriors Read More

How tens of thousands of cyber-volunteers are moving Ukraine closer to victory

December 7, 2022 December 27, 2022

A long-read from Institute Artist describes the activity of Ukrainian “information partisans” who get immersed among anonymous users on social network and comment sections of online media. Their mission is to “stir trouble on the other side, get information and sow disinformation.” Among these cyber volunteers is Tania, who gets acquainted with Russian soldiers involved …

How tens of thousands of cyber-volunteers are moving Ukraine closer to victory Read More

The war changed this Ukrainian fund’s investment plans — but its team has come back to work

November 21, 2022 December 2, 2022

Ukrainian tech blog AIN met Nikita Izmaylov, founder of Ukrainian investment fund N1, which targets on fintech and crypto startups at the early stage. Izmaylov shared insights about his fund, the portfolio companies, and the challenges they have faced since the war broke out in February. N1’s plans to invest some $5 million in four or …

The war changed this Ukrainian fund’s investment plans — but its team has come back to work Read More

What happened when this entrepreneur put her startup on hold to help Ukraine, and told VCs to donate

October 7, 2022 October 24, 2022

When Russia invaded her home country of Ukraine, U.K.-based tech entrepreneur Irra Ariella Khi, co-founder of Zamna, set up a fundraising page to directly support people inside Ukraine. Khi’s father (aged 70) and godmother (aged 82) are both in Ukraine, as are her stepsister and her children. Khi then temporarily stepped back from her day job at Zamna (which …

What happened when this entrepreneur put her startup on hold to help Ukraine, and told VCs to donate Read More

One year after People.ai became a unicorn, its Ukrainian founder helps coordinate donations from Silicon Valley

August 23, 2022 August 28, 2022

While some Ukrainian employees feel guilty about leaving their country in wartime, People.ai’s founder Oleg Rogynskyy believes there are several ways to serve Ukraine from abroad. Rogynskyy himself helps coordinate contributions from the Silicon Valley tech community in favour of Ukraine, he said in an interview with Financial Times (see excerpts in TechUkraine.org). With “a gut …

One year after People.ai became a unicorn, its Ukrainian founder helps coordinate donations from Silicon Valley Read More

Stuck in Kyiv, Ukrainian co-founder sees his company Unstoppable Domains become a unicorn in Silicon Valley

August 3, 2022 August 3, 2022

Last week Unstoppable Domains, a San Francisco-headquartered company incepted four years ago, announced the completion of a $65 million funding round involving 19 investors and bringing its valuation to more than $1 billion. The new unicorn specializes in “domains secured by blockchains”with such extensions as .crypto, .nft, .x, .wallet, .blockchain, etc. These domains are “more than …

Stuck in Kyiv, Ukrainian co-founder sees his company Unstoppable Domains become a unicorn in Silicon Valley Read More

Valentine Hrytsenko, Ajax Systems CMO: “Our new Ukrainian plant employs 1,200 people and produces 550,000 devices monthly”

July 15, 2022 August 3, 2022

Founded in 2011 in Kyiv by Aleksandr Konotopskyi, today Ajax Systems a major manufacturer of security systems in Europe. Last year, the Ajax Systems team grew to 1,700 people, entered 10 new markets, and surpassed the mark of 1 million users. Despite the war, all global challenges, and after the first quarter of the year, …

Valentine Hrytsenko, Ajax Systems CMO: “Our new Ukrainian plant employs 1,200 people and produces 550,000 devices monthly” Read More

How Internet sleuths exposed a celebrity “volunteer soldier” in Ukraine as a fraud

July 15, 2022 July 20, 2022

In March, the month after Russia declared war on Ukraine, a new account joined Twitter under the handle CanadianUkrain1, the user claiming to be a North American citizen joining the frontlines of the Ukrainian efforts against the Russian invasion. “Fighting the Russian invader along the Mykolayiv-Kherson axis,” read its bio. “Glory to Ukraine!” CanadianUkrain1 shared …

How Internet sleuths exposed a celebrity “volunteer soldier” in Ukraine as a fraud Read More

Zelensky hologram, 14 startups and a “train not to be missed:” Ukrainian tech impresses France

July 1, 2022 July 5, 2022

Is France about to become a harbor for Ukrainian startups in these troubled times? Thus far — in spite of its size and its thriving innovation ecosystem — this country has not been a major point of destination for Ukrainian or other Eastern European tech entrepreneurs seeking international growth or relocation opportunities. These entrepreneurs were more …

Zelensky hologram, 14 startups and a “train not to be missed:” Ukrainian tech impresses France Read More