81% of startups are confident that their solutions will help rebuild Ukraine – research

Polish-Ukrainian Startup Bridge (PUSB) has published a new, third report on the Ukrainian startup ecosystem entitled Startups and Business Ecosystem: Common Steps Towards The Reinventing Ukraine. This year’s report focuses on the role of startups and business environment institutions in the future reconstruction of Ukraine.

Co-organizers of the report are the Warsaw Stock Exchange and Ukrainian Startup Fund. Substantive partners such as ICU, Simpact Venture, Techosystem, Sigma Software Labs, ISE Group, and Dentons also contributed to the preparation of the report in the form of expert comments.

For the third year in a row, PUSB has been conducting research on the Ukrainian ecosystem, but in 2023, for the first time, in addition to startup founders, the study was also conducted among representatives of Ukrainian business environment institutions and organizations that play an important role in supporting startups and young technology companies. The full report can be downloaded from the official PUSB website at the link .

The topic of this year’s edition of the report was the role of Ukrainian startups in the reconstruction of Ukraine, as well as the readiness of the Ukrainian startup support ecosystem to support these activities. The press conference in Warsaw was attended by: Łukasz Wawak, manager of PUSB, Roman Nikitov, Co-Head ICU Ventures, Elena Malitska, CEO of ISE Group, Mykhajło Khaletskyi, expert at Ukrainian Startup Fund and Piotr Gębala, CEO of GPW Ventures.

„The results of the report show the optimistic attitude of members of the startup ecosystem. Representatives of startups have their proprietary technologies, they know how to do their job, and they have faith in the future. Representatives of business environment institutions have well-established knowledge and want to continue building know-how. However, on both sides, there is a basic need – financing. The most important question from the report is: how to ensure internal financing and how to attract investment capital to the country? We believe that the report will support the discussion on this topic” – says Łukasz Wawak, PUSB manager.

The authors of the report interviewed 107 Ukrainian technology companies representing the niche, although very innovative startup industry. Moreover, in the part devoted to business environment institutions, 54 representatives of organizations from all over Ukraine answered the questions. The first part of the study published data on the condition and attitude of startups. Among startup representatives, as many as 81% believe that their products and solutions will help rebuild Ukraine in various aspects.

When asked whether startups are considering the possibility of research and development work on innovations that will support the reconstruction of the country, as many as 78% admitted that they are considering such activities, and only 22% of respondents do not take such work into account. These answers indicate that startups are ready for long-term participation in the reconstruction process and the development of innovative solutions.

The vast majority of responses from startup representatives (69%) indicated that all groups (government, investors, international community) should cooperate to create synergy and coordinate efforts to rebuild the country. In turn, 54% of responses directly referred to the role of the government, arguing that the government should provide a stable legal and regulatory framework that will facilitate the functioning of startups. Additionally, 41% of respondents agreed that the Ukrainian state should provide direct financing and support to startups involved in economic recovery.

Basic data about startups:

Despite the war, 46% of startups still believe that the ecosystem is functioning at an AVERAGE level, which can be considered a pretty good result considering the war effort. Startups admit that the startup ecosystem is active.
31% of startups successfully raised investment capital in the last year.
90% of startups see great growth potential in the future.
59% of startups have not changed their place of residence since February 24, 2022.
47% of startups that left Ukraine plan to return to the country after the end of the war.
59% of Ukrainian startups that decide to relocate abroad choose Poland for relocation from Ukraine. Startups that moved abroad in Ukraine constitute 15% of all those participating in the study.
66% of startups in Ukraine and 35% of startups abroad need access to investment capital for further development.
62% of Ukrainian startups see their advantage in flexibility and the ability to adapt to changing circumstances.
53% of startups believe that the startup ecosystem needs investment from state sources and international funds.

Basic data about business environment organizations and institutions:

85% of business environment institutions and organizations provide support not only to traditional businesses but also have an offer for startups.
57% of organizations confirmed their competencies in providing market research and product development services.
69% of business environment organizations confirmed that they had solid experience in receiving grant support.
76% of business environment organizations confirmed that they have experience in receiving, paying, and settling subsidies.
83% of business environment organizations have previous experience and competencies in cooperation with foreign partners (including donors).
83% of business environment organizations felt the need for intense competition to attract foreign partners.
39% of business environment organizations identified the provision of educational technologies and e-learning opportunities as their contribution to the reconstruction of Ukraine;
70% of business community organizations identify start-ups as having the potential to play a role in the revitalization of local communities (in particular by providing new jobs requiring high qualifications).
81% of business environment institutions already have experience in cooperation with startups.
78% of business environment institutions stated that they have competencies to cooperate with startups
93% of BEIs want to develop further competencies needed to work with start-ups.
54% of BEIs want to develop competencies in providing financial assistance to start-ups.
83% of BEIs want to learn how to obtain foreign investment and financing through international partnerships.