In 2024, the Ukrainian Startup Association (UAS) achieved significant success in implementing the Development Strategy for 2024.
Expansion of the innovation community
- Development of online platforms: UAS actively developed its Telegram channel and presence on social networks, creating interesting sections, discussions and promoting networking among startups and investors.
- Increase in membership: Due to the improvement in the quality of services provided, the number of members of the Association increased from 44 to 63, which indicates trust and recognition from the innovation community of Ukraine. The clients of our consulting department are not only startups, but also existing businesses. In particular, such services as calculations and a business plan for attracting investments, creating innovative concepts, and training courses for SME managers on fundraising are in demand.
- International cooperation: UAS has expanded its activities internationally, providing services to non-residents and involving the international innovation community in cooperation. Together with partners from Italy, Portugal, Spain, Germany, the UK and other countries, 8 project consortia were created and applications for funding were submitted under the following programs: SMP-COSME-2024-CLUSTERUA, CERV-2024-DAPHNE, ERASMUS-EDU-2024-PEX-COVE, CREA-CROSS-2024-INNOVLAB, HORIZON-EIE-2024-CONNECT-01, HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-ACCESS-07, HORIZON-EIC-2024-PATHFINDEROPEN-01. The Ukrainian Startup Association is pleased to announce cooperation with Startup Mastery within the framework of the Startup Nations Association project. This cooperation offers Ukrainian startups a unique opportunity to undergo a 4-month mentoring course to develop their ideas and prepare for international success. The program was developed in Israel.
Support for innovative projects
- Platform for supporting innovative projects: The Association has expanded the range of users of its platform to 55 startups, involving +2 universities: the National University of Life Resources and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine and the National Aviation University to provide expertise and cooperation in the field of commercialization of innovations and scientific developments. It was also possible to establish a good partnership in the field of intellectual property protection with IP Office (Ukrpatent) and the Scientific Association of Cybersecurity of Ukraine. We have good cases of matching startups, businesses and investors, we support investment projects totaling over 135 million US dollars.
- Consulting Department: The professional growth of the consulting department, which provided expert support in the creation and financing of innovative projects, continued. In total, in 2024 alone, with our help, Ukrainian startups received grants of over 630 thousand euros, on average 60-100 thousand per startup under the SEEDS OF BRAVERY and WNISEF programs. And two members of the association have advanced to applying for large European grants, in particular for the EIC ACCELERATOR.
Organization of events
- The second international investment forum INVESTinUA: After the successful organization of the First International Investment Forum for Innovations INVESTinUA, which became a platform for Ukrainian SMEs, startups to meet with potential investors and partners. We received many requests to continue a similar format and even registered the INVESTinUA brand. But after the summer power outages, and later the autumn, constant shelling and the refusal of many investors to attend in person due to the security situation, the members of the Association’s board decided to postpone the forum to 2025 in the hope of improving security conditions in Ukraine. So we continue preparations.
Legislative Initiatives
- Development of initiatives: UAS actively collected problems in the innovation sphere, developed solutions and prepared legislative initiatives for relevant bodies, monitoring their implementation and studying the impact on the industry. In particular, we investigated the following issues: taxation of grants, the problem of transparency in attracting investments in Ukrainian business and startups, the outflow of innovators and highly skilled labor in general from Ukraine.
Creation of a European Digital Innovation Hub (EDIH) in the Kyiv region
- Project development: Since February 2023, we have been an officially registered Digital Innovation Hub (Digital Innovative Hab). Based on partnerships with local authorities, universities and businesses, we developed a European Digital Innovation Hub (EDIH) project and submitted it for consideration to the Ministry of Digital Affairs in February 2024. To obtain the opportunity to apply for funding from the European Commission’s Digital Europe program. Unfortunately, despite the fact that this was only “admission to submit applications for the funding competition”, the Ukrainian Startup Association was not selected among the applicants. We received a high rating, but the applications of other potential hubs received a higher score from most experts. We tried to appeal the issue of transparency of the assessment, but to no avail. Therefore, we are forced to provide our consulting services for Ukrainian startups/SMEs on a paid basis.
- Attracting funding: We continue to look for opportunities to obtain funding through other grant programs and investments in order to simplify obtaining consultations for Ukrainian startups. So we will be happy to share this news with you if we succeed.
- Launching the hub: Despite everything, we continued the work of the hub in a digital format and provide all consulting services online. The launch of a pilot project of the physical innovation hub CreaInnovations Valley has also been prepared. In the fall of 2024, a competition was held to select a location for the innovation park, in which two promising locations were selected. The CreaInnovations Valley investment project has been developed with a total value of over 100 million US dollars and is currently attracting investments in it, with the assistance of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and the Government Office UkraineInvest.
Conclusion
In 2024, the Ukrainian Startup Association achieved most of its goals, contributing to the development of innovative entrepreneurship in Ukraine. UAS continues to actively develop the Ukrainian startup ecosystem, expanding its network of partners, supporting innovations and working to improve the legislative field. The plan for 2025 provides for further growth and new opportunities for Ukrainian entrepreneurs.
