The Ukrainian Startup Fund Has Been Officially Launched

On July 11, Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Hroisman and Minister of Finance of Ukraine Oksana Markarova launched the Ukrainian Startup Fund, which will provide grant funding to companies with innovative products at the early stage of development. The authorized capital of the Fund was formed from the state budget and amounts to UAH 390 million.

The evaluation and selection of projects applying for grants will be performed by the independent commission and expert council, in strategic areas will be determined by a supervisory board of seven persons, including, in particular, Olena Kosharna (Horizon Capital), Yurii Heletii (Ministry of Finance), Oleksandr Ryzhenko (State Agency for e-Governance of Ukraine).

“Innovation is what Ukrainian business is all about, as well as what makes the difference between a successful business and a failed business. It is thanks to fundamentally new approaches that the Ministry of Finance has managed to rise in budget transparency rankings over the last three years. We have begun to do not only what the Budget Code requires, but much more. Today, we are one of the few countries to fully open all public finances online. Establishment of the Fund means one step up in the innovation ranking. Today we are starting to work towards raising donor funding for the further development of this project,” said Finance Minister Oksana Markarova.

Grant size for one project can reach up to $ 75,000 (the equivalent of up to UAH 2,000,000).

Eligible expenses of participants that can be funded by the grant program include prototype creation, concept validation, business development, registration of intellectual property rights, testing and piloting of developed innovative solutions/technologies, development of business plans for the further attraction of equity and debt capital, product commercialization costs, etc.

To ensure efficiency and transparency of the grant funds use, the Fund will closely monitor project implementation.

The announcement of the Fund's programs launch is scheduled for early September.