In the next article covering the growth and maturation of the Central and Eastern European startup scene the time has come for an overview of the biggest European country which has gone through a lot of challenges and misfortunes in recent years but may well be on its way towards brighter prospects and has been taking a lot of steps to ensure it - favorable tax rates for startups, state grants to promote the growth of innovative businesses and more. As you might’ve guessed - today we’ll talk about Ukraine.
No matter how rocky the country’s path might appear, Ukraine is not exempt from the list of CEE countries (i.e. Romania, Hungary, or Bulgaria), benefitting off-of maturing venture and startup ecosystems flourishing across the region. Slowly but surely, Ukraine has lured more and more venture capital, has already had its first four unicorns and is well on its way to becoming a major tech hub in Eastern Europe.
So, without further ado, let’s discover Top VC funds from Ukraine investing into early-stage startups.
Flyer One Ventures
Geography: Ukraine, Belarus, and Baltic states
Preferred industries: AI/ML, EdTech, B2B SaaS, Mobile Apps, Health Tech
Investment ticket: $100k - $2M
Company stage: from Seed to Series A
The very first from our selection, a transnational VC firm Flyer One Ventures, named after the first-ever functioning aircraft, is splitting its presence between London and Kyiv. As their name suggests, the fund is actively looking for daredevils and practitioners ready to roll their sleeves and get that first-ever prototype out in the fields! As a portfolio company of theirs, you can expect a wide range of services helping you expand into the new markets. Marketing, product support, PR, financial advice, and more are within the expertise of the VC fund’s team - all to help you grow and thrive. Some of the firm’s portfolio companies include, but are not limited to Vochi, Allset, and PromoRepublic.
TA Ventures
Geography: Europe, North America, Israel
Preferred industries: B2B software, Digital Health, Mobility and Logistics, Fintech and Insurtech, ConsumerTech
Investment ticket: $300k and up to $1.5M
Company stage: Early stage
The next from our list, TA Ventures is a global VC firm with Ukrainian roots investing across sectors and industries. The firm prefers to get involved in startups having strong unit economics as well as first revenues, willing to expand onto the US or Europe. As a network-driven VC, the key value added by the team is the ability to be in the right place at the right moment to help you find good follow-on partners or effective and affordable R&D teams from CEE. Over its 10 year work, the firm has built an impressive portfolio of 180+ startups, among which you may find DeepL Translate, Salo and Liki24.
u.ventures
Geography: Ukraine and Moldova
Preferred industries: Sector-Agnostic
Investment ticket: €100k - €1M
Company stage: Early stage
The next from our selection, u.ventures is a fund almost entirely dedicated to the local startup scene, bidding on the competitive advantages offered by the country’s talented engineers and relatively low costs of living. The company has a generalistic approach when choosing the investments and is looking for startups with the first signs of market traction as well as those targeting large markets. The fund has already built a portfolio of many interesting startups where, among others, are 3DLOOK, YouTeam as well as Petcube.
Almaz Capital
Geography: US, CEE and CIS
Preferred industries: B2B Software, including AI/ML and Blockchain applications, IoT and Edge computing enablers, cybersecurity
Investment ticket: $2M - $7M
Company stage: Early stage
The next from our list, Almaz Capital is a very noticeable global VC fund conveniently split between Europe and Silicon Valley which helps its portfolio companies to benefit from talented, cost-efficient engineering teams of the first while enjoying network effects of the latter. To join the firm’s growing portfolio, a startup team should be able to clearly and honestly articulate what is the defensible advantage of their product or service and of course - what is their plan of scaling in the global market. Interesting portfolio companies of the firm include Yandex, Acronis and HOVER.
Roosh Ventures
Geography: EU and US
Preferred industries: generalistic with a slight focus on fintech, gaming, and AI-driven products
Investment ticket: $50K - $1M
Company stage: Pre-Seed - Series A
The next from our selection is Roosh Ventures, part of the overarching Roosh ecosystem the VC firm looks for startups across a wider range of sectors and industries with a slight focus on fintech, gaming, and AI-driven products. With a diverse team spanning various domains, Roosh Ventures provide tailored support in AI/ML tech implementation (consulting and ML outsourcing), quick hiring of engineers, AI upskilling, and sourcing VCs, partners, and clients. The firm’s notable investments include but are not limited to Deel, Oura Ring, Dapper Labs, Alter, TheGuarantors, Pipe, and Cresta.
Digital Future
Geography: Ukraine and Belarus
Preferred industries: B2B software, HR tech, Communication, Cybertech, Edtech, Fintech & Insurtech, Healthtech and Wellness, Martech and Media.
Investment ticket: $50k - $0.5M
Company stage: Early stage
Digital Future is a Ukrainian VC fund looking for disruptive local startups that have shown early signs of product-market fit, be it the first customers or a deep knowledge of the current market dynamics proving the company’s thesis. The firm is ready to invest up to $500k at the early stage comapnies and keeps looking for new investment opportunities in a wide range of sectors in both B2B and B2C segments. Among their portfolio companies you may find Preply, Petcube and Signalayer.
AVentures Capital
Geography: Ukraine
Preferred industries: software tech, including such areas as machine learning, big data, AR, VR, SaaS, cloud, storage, enterprise, web, mobile, IoT
Investment ticket: $0.5M - €2M
Company stage: Early stage
AVentures Capital is our yet another VC laser-focused on finding talented and passionate entrepreneurs among the country’s vast startup ecosystem. To help their portfolio companies succeed, the firm splits its presence between Kyiv and Silicon Valley to ensure their portfolio startups both the follow-up support within the world’s biggest tech hub as well as the possibility to leverage Ukraine’s R&D potential. Some, though not all of the companies they have invested in include CheckiO, Sixa and Rallyware.
Adventures Lab
Geography: global
Preferred industries: Sector-agnostic
Investment ticket: $100k - $500k
Company stage: Early stage
Adventures Lab is a VC fund looking for founders with a proven track record that have a clear path towards becoming profitable within its first year and an ability to scale 10x in the next 3 years. The firm gladly invests across various sectors and geographies but has a preference for bold founders and category-changing products and/or services among its portfolio. A small, yet growing portfolio of the fund consists of names like Reface, OneNotary and StreamHERO.
Anchor Ventures
Geography: Ukraine
Preferred industries: Sector-agnostic
Investment ticket: undisclosed
Company stage: Seed to Series A
Yet another VC fund entirely focused on the local startup scene - Anchor Ventures is a young fund looking for local entrepreneurs aiming to expand onto the US. The qualities that the firm seeks in its portfolio include the close-knit founding team, years of industry experience as well as the need of having a very involved and focused partner rather than just an investor. To allow themselves to invest more time and effort into their prospective portfolio, Anchor Ventures only gets involved in 1 or 2 startups per year so that it can provide tailor-made support and business advice in order to build the next category leaders. As a quite young fund, the firm has so far invested in Native, Decoderize and OneNotary.
QP Digital
Geography: Ukraine
Preferred industries: AI, Blockchain, Game Dev, IT logistics, Digital Healthcare.
Investment ticket: $500k on average
Company stage: Early stage
QP Digital is a Kyiv-based VC firm investing in Ukrainian startups at an early stage. The fund is looking for experienced and knowledgeable teams seeking to expand their activities globally. Even though QP Digital accepts pitches coming from all sectors and industries, the firm, nevertheless, has a preference for companies operating in AI, Blockchain, Dame Dev, IT logistics and Digital Healthcare. Among the company’s portfolio, you may find Doc.ua, WareTeka as well as Promin Aerospace.
SMRK VC Fund
Geography: Ukraine
Preferred industries: Business software and HR, Communication, Cleantech, Ecommerce and Retail, Edtech and Insurtech, hardware and IoT
Investment ticket: up to $1M
Company stage: Early stage
Another VC fund from our selection, SMRK is mainly targeting customer-centric IT startups with global ambitions. The firm is especially interested in finding founders who have very wide expertise in the field they’re getting themselves into, a clear strategy towards finding the product-market fit and a competitive advantage allowing them to capture a significant portion of the industry’s market. Some of the funds’ investments include Ajax Systems, TurnKey Lender and Allset.
Ukrainian Startup Fund
Geography: Ukraine
Preferred industries: sector-agnostic
Investment ticket: equity-free grants of $25k - $50k
Company stage: Early stage
Last but not least, local startups should also consider applying for a grant from a local state initiative aimed at boosting Ukraine’s growing tech ecosystem. The Ukrainian Startup Fund is financing companies on a non-equity basis while also providing acceleration program early-stage local startups. As a result, startups have an option not to give up equity at the earliest stages and take some time to iterate and develop the product to save more equity for the eventual rounds. A number of funds’ portfolio companies include but are not limited to Drill app, Fiway and Cotano.
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