On the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukrainian startups are transforming wartime constraint into strategic capability.
On the fourth anniversary of Russia’s unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Tech.eu remains committed to amplifying Ukrainian founders and investors — not merely as a gesture of solidarity, but as recognition of their ongoing impact in innovation, creating front-running tech for international scale.
Ukraine’s tech ecosystem is not paused by war. It is evolving — faster, harder, and with a clarity of purpose that much of Europe would do well to study.
Europe — and much of the global tech ecosystem — still underestimates and fails to grasp what Ukraine represents.
I often hear Ukrainian startups described as resilient.
It’s a phrase I struggle with because it describes the kind of people who can bounce back, shake it off, and keep going. It makes us feel better, not them and implicitly suggests that adversity can simply be absorbed, as though anyone who struggles under these conditions is an exception rather than human.
No founder should have to pitch between air-raid sirens or hesitate to tell customers and investors they have teams in Ukraine — fearing that blackouts and disrupted infrastructure might make them harder to reach.
I’ve visited Ukraine three times since Russia’s full-scale invasion, and interviewed dozens of startups and ecosystem builders. It hits different when you visit a co-working space that has been hit by a missile attack / or talk to a founder who casually mentions they are homeless because their apartment burnt down.
Founders are operating under pressures most of us will never fully comprehend — air-raid sirens at all hours, rolling blackouts, and the grinding toll of chronic sleep deprivation.
I’m a chronic insomniac myself, but imagine being jolted awake night after night for nearly four years by the sound of an air-raid alert. You check the app and your local Telegram group. What kind of missile is it? Is it serious enough to warrant shelter — again — or can you cautiously try to sleep? But now you’re awake in fight-or-flight mode. And the next morning, you have a company to run. A pitch to deliver. A stage to stand on.
Recently, Ukrainians experienced what became Ukraine’s harshest winter since the full-scale invasion. Temperatures plunged to –20°C in many regions as sustained Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure — actions that constitute war crimes under international humanitarian law — left entire areas without electricity, heating, or running water.
The structural barriers Ukrainian founders face are rarely understood outside the region.
Most Ukrainian men aged 18–60 are not permitted to leave the country under martial law. Yet I have heard investors say they will only invest if they can meet founders in person — as though geography were a preference rather than a wartime restriction.
I’ve also had quite a few early-stage Ukrainian founders ask me not to mention they have co-founders and management in Ukraine in case it deters investors who see the blackouts as a particular liability for customer retention.
Ukraine’s airspace has been closed to civilian flights for more than four years. A trip to a conference, pitch event, or board meeting in London, Berlin, or Lisbon can involve a 15-hour journey each way — train to the Polish border, border crossing, flight onwards, then the same again in reverse.
And for those who got out. displacement brings its own invisible tax: navigating a new language, unfamiliar bureaucracy, housing insecurity, and rebuilding professional networks from scratch.
These are not minor inconveniences. They are structural friction layered on top of war.
And yet, Ukrainian startups continue to launch, raise capital, and scale internationally. But in the last four years, we’ve seen airSlate, Unstoppable Domains, Creatio,, Preply, and mono become unicorns.
Since 2020, the estimated value of the Ukrainian startup ecosystem has tripled to more than $25 billion. According to Digital State UA , there are approximately 2,600 startups in Ukraine, of which around 2,100 were founded by Ukrainian crews and more than 500 foreign startups that have opened offices in Ukraine.
Further, the exodus of Ukrainian talent across the US, UK, and Europe has created unlikely dividends — new networks, new markets, new paths to scale.
Has Europe done enough? Definitely not.
Ukraine is holding the line — not just for itself, but for Europe’s security.
It’s been bizarre for me to see the investors go from anti-defencetech to scrambling for a foothold. Ukraine did not “pivot into defence tech” as a trend. It had to. And what began as an urgent, frontline necessity is increasingly translating into exportable dual-use technologies with broader European relevance, especially for startups. building autonomous counter-UAS systems, battlefield communications platforms, AI-enabled targeting software, logistics optimisation tools, and space-enabled capabilities.
What started as survival is becoming strategic capability.
Russia’s invasion has underscored a stark strategic shortcoming for not only Ukraine but neighbouring Europe: its reliance on systems like Starlink, owned by an American company headed by one of the most megalomaniac people in tech, to power satellite communications infrastructure in times of conflict.
It has also highlighted the need for an expansion of localised, decentralised energy systems — from microgrids to renewables and storage — capable of withstanding sustained attacks on centralised infrastructure. And, where to from here on? The rebuilding of Ukraine will be one of the largest infrastructure and governance challenges Europe has faced in generations.
But startups are focused on rebuilding, demining, and creating the necessary digital infrastructure.
Once the war ends, I predict cities like Lviv and Kyiv will become beacons for founders abroad looking to find a place to found their companies. A single state portal Diia, developed over the last few years, includes over 70 digital services — you need only 2 seconds to become an entrepreneur in Ukraine, and 30 minutes to found a limited liability company.
Over 1,000,000 private entrepreneurs and more than 14,000 companies have already used the service.
Ukraine is not waiting to be rebuilt. It is already being built.
The question is whether the rest of Europe is ready to build alongside it.
Lead image: Freepik.