The document is the 2020 edition of the DealBook of Ukraine published by AVentures Capital. It provides an overview of the Ukrainian tech investment landscape in 2019. Some of the key highlights include:
- 2019 saw a record total funding volume of $544M, driven by a few large rounds, while early stage investment remained flat.
- The three largest deals (Grammarly, GitLab, People.ai) accounted for 77% of the total funding.
- Exits increased with notable acquisitions like AI Factory and Cropio, but most deals were smaller than $100M.
- International investors provided the majority of early stage capital while local funds focused on seed deals.
- Ukraine remained an
The DealBook is our annual overview of the Ukrainian tech investment industry. This edition comprehensively covers the full year 2021 and the first deals of 2022
Kreston Ukraine, together with Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (UVCA), AVentures, and ISE Corporate Accelerator, is pleased to present the results of the annual Ukraine Deal Review 2021, also covering 3 months of 2022.
In 2021, Ukrainian startups attracted venture capital investments worth USD 779.6 million, 46% more than in 2020. Like in a previous period, Ukrainian Startup Fund (USF) accounted for about half of the deals (47%). Investments attributed to private equity reached 82.8 million USD, and these are only agreements with the disclosed amount.
In 2021, six new players joined the Ukrainian venture capital market. GEEK Ventures, SID Venture Partners, ZAS Ventures, ANCHOR, and PAWA offer Ukrainian startups financing of around USD 0.5 million, along with their experience and expertise. World-renowned companies also did not ignore Ukraine last year: 19 of them opened their R&D centers, offices, and engineering hubs in Ukraine.
In the first quarter of 2022, the development of private technology investment markets did not halt despite the large-scale Russian aggression. In January–March 2022, 11 venture capital deals of USD 11.5 mln, 3 private equity deals of USD 4 mln, and 8 exits of USD 135 mln already took place. International companies went on establishing new R&D centers and offices in Ukraine. In addition, global technology companies, EU countries, and Ukrainian IT communities have offered Ukrainian startups several support programs.
For the first time investments in Ukrainian startups and IT companies have reached a half-billion mark in a year. Such data was presented by Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (UVCA) in its annual market overview in partnership with Deloitte.
The total volume of venture investments into Ukrainian IT companies has reached $510M, which is one and a half times more than the maximum of 2018. The number of deals in 2019 was almost the same as in 2018: 111 deals compared to 115 in 2018.
In 2019, the volume of M&A transactions increased by 18 times. 15 M&A deals have totaled $460M while in 2018 there were 7 transactions worth $25.2M.
The increase of Angel Investments by 7 times in 2019 has been shown in the amount of $6.1M compared to $0.9M in 2018.
2019 was marked by 29 exits of Ukrainian investors, with the average transaction check growing by 78% to $5.7M. Software companies have been leading in the number of deals and their volume, moving the “online service” sector to second place. The volume of TOP-10 transactions has almost doubled to $456M. By geography, 90% of the attracted investments were inflow from the USA.
The amount of VC investments over the last 8 years grew to $1.5 billion.
We can expect the companies mentioned in the report to attract larger investments in the near future.
If you represent VC or PE fund, Angel Investor and have an interest in the market, contact us at ceo@uvca.eu.
The DealBook is our annual overview of the Ukrainian tech investment industry. This edition comprehensively covers the full year 2023 and the first deals of 2022.
The Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (UVCA) and the audit and consulting company Kreston Ukraine present the “Ukraine venture capital and private equity markets 2020” annual review, which also includes data for 8 months of 2021.
According to the results of 2020, Ukrainian technology companies and their investors closed 188 deals with investors worth USD 533.5 million. About 50% of the deals are small grants (25 and 50 thousand USD) from the Ukrainian Startup Fund. For 2020—2021, it has invested USD 5.3 million in Ukrainian projects.
Just three years ago, Ukraine did not have a single unicorn among its startups. Nowadays, as many as five of them — Gitlab, Grammarly, Bitfury, People.ai, and Ring — raised USD 1.3 bln funding and dominate the global market.
In this review, we analysed the key market trends, such as “investment focus on software projects”, “increase of foreign investors in the Ukrainian market”, “growing quality of Ukrainian startups and their interest in smart money” for the first time. The key drivers and barriers to market development were identified — the respondents noted that despite the imperfect regulatory framework, the country still has enough private capital to promote the sector.
Generally, all market players are unanimous in their outlooks and are quite optimistic about further market development. According to 81% venture and 67% private equity investors surveyed, all quantitative indicators are likely to grow, and high-tech industries traditionally represent the most promising ones.
Ukrainian investors primarily point to the experience and qualification of the team (according to 94% venture and 17% private equity investors surveyed) and the market potential of the business idea (according to 82% venture and 83% private equity investors surveyed), among the key factors for investment decisions. On the other hand, when choosing an investor, startups consider their industry expertise, investment terms, and ‘smart money’ they can get.
The study results show that Ukrainian companies offer attractive, relevant, and globally competitive solutions and demonstrate sustainability and adaptability in COVID-19. Ukraine is gradually transforming from a talent and idea exporter into a big international venture capital market player.
The DealBook is our annual overview of the Ukrainian tech investment industry. This edition comprehensively covers the full year 2021 and the first deals of 2022
Kreston Ukraine, together with Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (UVCA), AVentures, and ISE Corporate Accelerator, is pleased to present the results of the annual Ukraine Deal Review 2021, also covering 3 months of 2022.
In 2021, Ukrainian startups attracted venture capital investments worth USD 779.6 million, 46% more than in 2020. Like in a previous period, Ukrainian Startup Fund (USF) accounted for about half of the deals (47%). Investments attributed to private equity reached 82.8 million USD, and these are only agreements with the disclosed amount.
In 2021, six new players joined the Ukrainian venture capital market. GEEK Ventures, SID Venture Partners, ZAS Ventures, ANCHOR, and PAWA offer Ukrainian startups financing of around USD 0.5 million, along with their experience and expertise. World-renowned companies also did not ignore Ukraine last year: 19 of them opened their R&D centers, offices, and engineering hubs in Ukraine.
In the first quarter of 2022, the development of private technology investment markets did not halt despite the large-scale Russian aggression. In January–March 2022, 11 venture capital deals of USD 11.5 mln, 3 private equity deals of USD 4 mln, and 8 exits of USD 135 mln already took place. International companies went on establishing new R&D centers and offices in Ukraine. In addition, global technology companies, EU countries, and Ukrainian IT communities have offered Ukrainian startups several support programs.
For the first time investments in Ukrainian startups and IT companies have reached a half-billion mark in a year. Such data was presented by Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (UVCA) in its annual market overview in partnership with Deloitte.
The total volume of venture investments into Ukrainian IT companies has reached $510M, which is one and a half times more than the maximum of 2018. The number of deals in 2019 was almost the same as in 2018: 111 deals compared to 115 in 2018.
In 2019, the volume of M&A transactions increased by 18 times. 15 M&A deals have totaled $460M while in 2018 there were 7 transactions worth $25.2M.
The increase of Angel Investments by 7 times in 2019 has been shown in the amount of $6.1M compared to $0.9M in 2018.
2019 was marked by 29 exits of Ukrainian investors, with the average transaction check growing by 78% to $5.7M. Software companies have been leading in the number of deals and their volume, moving the “online service” sector to second place. The volume of TOP-10 transactions has almost doubled to $456M. By geography, 90% of the attracted investments were inflow from the USA.
The amount of VC investments over the last 8 years grew to $1.5 billion.
We can expect the companies mentioned in the report to attract larger investments in the near future.
If you represent VC or PE fund, Angel Investor and have an interest in the market, contact us at ceo@uvca.eu.
The DealBook is our annual overview of the Ukrainian tech investment industry. This edition comprehensively covers the full year 2023 and the first deals of 2022.
The Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (UVCA) and the audit and consulting company Kreston Ukraine present the “Ukraine venture capital and private equity markets 2020” annual review, which also includes data for 8 months of 2021.
According to the results of 2020, Ukrainian technology companies and their investors closed 188 deals with investors worth USD 533.5 million. About 50% of the deals are small grants (25 and 50 thousand USD) from the Ukrainian Startup Fund. For 2020—2021, it has invested USD 5.3 million in Ukrainian projects.
Just three years ago, Ukraine did not have a single unicorn among its startups. Nowadays, as many as five of them — Gitlab, Grammarly, Bitfury, People.ai, and Ring — raised USD 1.3 bln funding and dominate the global market.
In this review, we analysed the key market trends, such as “investment focus on software projects”, “increase of foreign investors in the Ukrainian market”, “growing quality of Ukrainian startups and their interest in smart money” for the first time. The key drivers and barriers to market development were identified — the respondents noted that despite the imperfect regulatory framework, the country still has enough private capital to promote the sector.
Generally, all market players are unanimous in their outlooks and are quite optimistic about further market development. According to 81% venture and 67% private equity investors surveyed, all quantitative indicators are likely to grow, and high-tech industries traditionally represent the most promising ones.
Ukrainian investors primarily point to the experience and qualification of the team (according to 94% venture and 17% private equity investors surveyed) and the market potential of the business idea (according to 82% venture and 83% private equity investors surveyed), among the key factors for investment decisions. On the other hand, when choosing an investor, startups consider their industry expertise, investment terms, and ‘smart money’ they can get.
The study results show that Ukrainian companies offer attractive, relevant, and globally competitive solutions and demonstrate sustainability and adaptability in COVID-19. Ukraine is gradually transforming from a talent and idea exporter into a big international venture capital market player.
Investors Book 2021 - catalog for investors and startups that will allow them to connect in a reliable, efficient way to make ‘perfect match’.
The Investors Book 2021 was created by the Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (UVCA) supported by the USAID through its Competitive Economy Program in Ukraine (USAID CEP) and the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine.
Deal Book: Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Overview 2022-2023Mind UA
This research covers the period from the beginning of 2022 to the end of the Q1/2023 – five quarters during which Ukraine was engulfed in the flames of war.
The study was conducted by the Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (UVCA) and business media Mind.ua.
Yet, despite predictions, the Ukrainian venture market has shown remarkable resilience and self-renewal capacity in conditions we have never faced before.
The trend is illustrated by the number of investments, which has reached nearly 200 deals. Moreover, their number has almost doubled, if compared with 2021 – the last pre-war year.
The total investment in projects with Ukrainian roots during the war year exceeded $880 million, but the lion’s share consisted of investments in the top five start-ups. This trend has persisted for several years in a row.
The Ukrainian ecosystem has already produced 7 unicorns. However, we see similar potential in another 50 companies. Over 20 years, we have built a very large ecosystem, which gives potential for growing unicorns. And therefore, it’s worth investing in funds focused on Ukraine. 17 funds with a total volume of $1.4 billion have already been fundraising intensively.
Due diligence (аудит) стартапов. Мастер-класс Евгения СысоеваYevgen Sysoyev
На мастер-классе Евгений будет подробно освещать следующие вопросы:
- Due diligence: что стоит за этими пугающими словами?
- Взгляд инвестора: зачем, что и как проверять?
- Готовность проекта к проекту: что и как готовить?
- Due diligence наоборот, или стартап проверяет инвестора.
EY India Attractiveness Survey 2015 – Reasons to Invest in India & Key Factor...EY
With leading 32% of the investors ranking India as the most attractive market this year, India has emerged as No. 1 FDI destination in the world during the first half of 2015. Download the India Attractive Survey to know more.
Investors Book is the first overview that has gathered Ukrainian investment market players displaying their current activity, spheres of interest, portfolio. According to the book, there are 33 active funds operating in Ukraine, 5 of those are incubators and accelerators, 1 corporate fund, 19 venture capital funds, 8 private equity funds.
Vol. 2 updated in July 2017.
Ukraine Dealbook IT and Internet Market 2012-14Yevgen Sysoyev
The comprehensive overview of venture market in Ukraine and all tech deals in 2012-14, overview of key trends, players and Ukrainian venture ecosystem
Subscribe to @YevgenSysoyev to receive updates
Downloadable version is here:
http://www.ewdn.com/files/ua_dealbook.pdf
Key findings:
https://prezi.com/y_gg35xswhcr/the-deal-book-of-ukraine/
Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs): The Class of 2017 - one year laterEY
In the first half of 2018, 86% of the leading initial coin offerings (ICOs) that listed on a cryptocurrency exchange in 2017 are below their initial listing price and a portfolio of these ICOs is down by 66% since the peak of the market at the beginning of this year, according to a study from EY, Initial Coin Offerings: The Class of 2017 – one year later, that examined the ICOs’ progress and investment returns.
IBOR transition: Opportunities and challenges for the asset management industryEY
EY Wealth & Asset Management explores the practical implications and the way forward for the transition to the new risk-free rates. This presentation aims to help asset managers and asset owners explore IBOR transition strategies that are compliant and future-focused.
A step-by-step overview of a typical cybersecurity attack—and how companies c...McKinsey & Company
A typical cybersecurity breach has a predictable pattern of incident and response. Here's a step-by-step overview of what would happen in a typical attack—not just to prove the effectiveness of the company’s security capabilities but also to familiarize individuals with potential threats so they might recognize them when they encounter deviations from the norm.
This infographic is from the related article, "Hit or myth? Understanding the true costs and impact of cybersecurity programs," on McKinsey.com:
http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/hit-or-myth-understanding-the-true-costs-and-impact-of-cybersecurity-programs
Transparency is one of our core values at Seedcamp and we are no strangers to how tough the fundraising process can be. In a continued spirit of openness and to show how - like with startups - our own story and proposition moves on, we're sharing the deck we used to raise our heavily-oversubscribed Seedcamp Fund V.
Read more about our plans to invest in and support the next generation of exceptional European talent on our blog: https://seedcamp.com/news/
We are big advocates of transparency at Seedcamp and understand first hand just how tough the fundraising process can be. It's not just startups who go through this but funds too. In the spirit of openness, we're sharing the deck we used to go out to investors for Seedcamp Fund IV.
Read more about our plans to invest in 100 new European startups with our biggest and boldest fund yet over on our blog: http://seedcamp.com/seedcamp-fund-iv-announcement/
Tech Ecosystem of Ukraine 2019. Insights, facts, companies you wanted to knowKirill Mazur
Ukraine's tech ecosystem is booming.
Last 5 years have become history-changing for Ukraine. With its 185 000 tech specialists, a few thousand startups, first unicorns, first innovation district and 20% average annual tech workforce growth, Ukraine is facing a prominent creative revolution in many areas.
In 2019, UNIT.City team together with partners has launched the guide about key things you should know about innovations in Ukraine.
Investors Book 2021 - catalog for investors and startups that will allow them to connect in a reliable, efficient way to make ‘perfect match’.
The Investors Book 2021 was created by the Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (UVCA) supported by the USAID through its Competitive Economy Program in Ukraine (USAID CEP) and the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine.
Deal Book: Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Overview 2022-2023Mind UA
This research covers the period from the beginning of 2022 to the end of the Q1/2023 – five quarters during which Ukraine was engulfed in the flames of war.
The study was conducted by the Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (UVCA) and business media Mind.ua.
Yet, despite predictions, the Ukrainian venture market has shown remarkable resilience and self-renewal capacity in conditions we have never faced before.
The trend is illustrated by the number of investments, which has reached nearly 200 deals. Moreover, their number has almost doubled, if compared with 2021 – the last pre-war year.
The total investment in projects with Ukrainian roots during the war year exceeded $880 million, but the lion’s share consisted of investments in the top five start-ups. This trend has persisted for several years in a row.
The Ukrainian ecosystem has already produced 7 unicorns. However, we see similar potential in another 50 companies. Over 20 years, we have built a very large ecosystem, which gives potential for growing unicorns. And therefore, it’s worth investing in funds focused on Ukraine. 17 funds with a total volume of $1.4 billion have already been fundraising intensively.
Due diligence (аудит) стартапов. Мастер-класс Евгения СысоеваYevgen Sysoyev
На мастер-классе Евгений будет подробно освещать следующие вопросы:
- Due diligence: что стоит за этими пугающими словами?
- Взгляд инвестора: зачем, что и как проверять?
- Готовность проекта к проекту: что и как готовить?
- Due diligence наоборот, или стартап проверяет инвестора.
EY India Attractiveness Survey 2015 – Reasons to Invest in India & Key Factor...EY
With leading 32% of the investors ranking India as the most attractive market this year, India has emerged as No. 1 FDI destination in the world during the first half of 2015. Download the India Attractive Survey to know more.
Investors Book is the first overview that has gathered Ukrainian investment market players displaying their current activity, spheres of interest, portfolio. According to the book, there are 33 active funds operating in Ukraine, 5 of those are incubators and accelerators, 1 corporate fund, 19 venture capital funds, 8 private equity funds.
Vol. 2 updated in July 2017.
Ukraine Dealbook IT and Internet Market 2012-14Yevgen Sysoyev
The comprehensive overview of venture market in Ukraine and all tech deals in 2012-14, overview of key trends, players and Ukrainian venture ecosystem
Subscribe to @YevgenSysoyev to receive updates
Downloadable version is here:
http://www.ewdn.com/files/ua_dealbook.pdf
Key findings:
https://prezi.com/y_gg35xswhcr/the-deal-book-of-ukraine/
Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs): The Class of 2017 - one year laterEY
In the first half of 2018, 86% of the leading initial coin offerings (ICOs) that listed on a cryptocurrency exchange in 2017 are below their initial listing price and a portfolio of these ICOs is down by 66% since the peak of the market at the beginning of this year, according to a study from EY, Initial Coin Offerings: The Class of 2017 – one year later, that examined the ICOs’ progress and investment returns.
IBOR transition: Opportunities and challenges for the asset management industryEY
EY Wealth & Asset Management explores the practical implications and the way forward for the transition to the new risk-free rates. This presentation aims to help asset managers and asset owners explore IBOR transition strategies that are compliant and future-focused.
A step-by-step overview of a typical cybersecurity attack—and how companies c...McKinsey & Company
A typical cybersecurity breach has a predictable pattern of incident and response. Here's a step-by-step overview of what would happen in a typical attack—not just to prove the effectiveness of the company’s security capabilities but also to familiarize individuals with potential threats so they might recognize them when they encounter deviations from the norm.
This infographic is from the related article, "Hit or myth? Understanding the true costs and impact of cybersecurity programs," on McKinsey.com:
http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/hit-or-myth-understanding-the-true-costs-and-impact-of-cybersecurity-programs
Transparency is one of our core values at Seedcamp and we are no strangers to how tough the fundraising process can be. In a continued spirit of openness and to show how - like with startups - our own story and proposition moves on, we're sharing the deck we used to raise our heavily-oversubscribed Seedcamp Fund V.
Read more about our plans to invest in and support the next generation of exceptional European talent on our blog: https://seedcamp.com/news/
We are big advocates of transparency at Seedcamp and understand first hand just how tough the fundraising process can be. It's not just startups who go through this but funds too. In the spirit of openness, we're sharing the deck we used to go out to investors for Seedcamp Fund IV.
Read more about our plans to invest in 100 new European startups with our biggest and boldest fund yet over on our blog: http://seedcamp.com/seedcamp-fund-iv-announcement/
Tech Ecosystem of Ukraine 2019. Insights, facts, companies you wanted to knowKirill Mazur
Ukraine's tech ecosystem is booming.
Last 5 years have become history-changing for Ukraine. With its 185 000 tech specialists, a few thousand startups, first unicorns, first innovation district and 20% average annual tech workforce growth, Ukraine is facing a prominent creative revolution in many areas.
In 2019, UNIT.City team together with partners has launched the guide about key things you should know about innovations in Ukraine.
Even though the growth has been slow in 2018, startups leveraging new hardware capabilities are reviving new investment. Explore global trends in our hardware sector report here http://bit.ly/hrd_sector
The investment potential of growth capital and the digital economyAxon Partners Group
Growth capital is becoming a key area of investment, especially in the digital media sector. Axon Partners Group investigates its potential for high returns in comparisons to areas like Venture Capital and real estate, and highlights case studies that have hit the headlines in recent years.
F-Prime Capital prepared a market analysis for 2018's year-end discussion. We are sharing it with our broader community in the hope that someone will find in informative, interesting or at least entertaining.
There were 87 investment deals with Ukrainian innovative companies in 2016 , which is 32% more than in 2015 - such a data was presented by the Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (UVCA) in its annual market overview. The overview has gathered information on venture, private equity and angel investment deals - their total volume is accounted in 88 mln. USD in 2016. The amount of investments over the past 5 years growth to 400 mln. At the same time, the volume of investment deals decreased on 33% since 2015 (including 13 undisclosed deals), but still is higher than in 2014 at 125%. The reason is few deals in 2015 amounted in dozens of millions.
Distinguishing feature of the market in 2016 is the prevalence of seed-stage deals. Thereby among all deals 73 were made at the seed-stage with the average amount of ticket over 500K USD. So we can expect that these initially invested companies will attract bigger investments in future.
The average ticket amount (on all stages) has grown up to 1M USD in 2016.
Technology Investment Opportunity in Turkey - 2019 Q3 Updated212
Turkey, a bridge between two great continents, with its young and connected population of 82 million, offers the right environment for startups to launch, test and go global. Here find our own Strategy Report for Turkey collaboration with Velox Partner and Startups.watch.
We invest in Ukraine!
Ukrainian IT SECTOR AS OF late 2014
VENTURE ECOSYSTEM AS OF late 2014
VENTURE MARKET: key highlights
$2B+ WORTH STARTUPS
Success stories FROM UKRAINE
10 NEW investors started investing in Ukrainian startups in 2014
Open U Talk from the Institute of Financial Technologists of AsiaNicole Kuo
Founder of Institute of Financial Technologists, Mr. Paul Pong's, talk for MBA students at the Open University of Hong Kong. Outlining opportunities and effect from Chinese depositary receipt and weighted voting rights. Also urging the needs of lack of fintech talents in the industry!
2019: A Record Year for VC Investment in UK TechTech Nation
In what was another record-breaking year, investments in the UK tech sector soared to £10.1bn ($13.2 billion) in 2019 – a £3.1bn increase on 2018’s very strong figures and the highest level in UK history.
Fintech - Lending Platforms: Company Presentation by Frederic Nze, Founder & CEO of Oakam at the NOAH Conference 2018 in London, Old Billingsgate 30-31 October 2018.
New startup funding in the finance sector witnessed a decline in Q1 2019 while early-stage startups form the biggest chunk. Discover the global trends in our latest Insights Report here http://bit.ly/fi_sector
For optimized reading: http://www.uadn.net/files/ua_hightech.pdf
A comprehensive 250-page review of software R&D and IT outsourcing activities in Ukraine, the country with the largest number of software engineers in CEE. http://www.uadn.net/files/ua_hightech.pdf
Presentation by Yevgen Sysoyev at U.S. Ukraine Business Forum in Washington D.C. on 13 July 2015. Overview of Ukrainian software tech sector and its role in the global tech ecosystem
2014 Developments in Ukrainian IT sector, Yevgen Sysoyev @ IDCEE2014Yevgen Sysoyev
2014 Developments in Ukrainian IT sector, overview of venture capital market in Ukraine. Announce of Dealbook Ukraine. By Yevgen Sysoyev, managing partner of AVentures Capital @ IDCEE2014
2. 2
Intro
AVentures Capital presentsThe DealBook of Ukraine –
2020 edition
The DealBook is our annual overview of the Ukrainian
tech investment industry.This edition comprehensively
covers the full year 2019
We would like to cordially thank all the market
participants who contributed their insights to the report
DealBook of Ukraine
Previous editions
Other reports on Ukrainian tech
Our joint reports with industry partners
3. 3
Co-founder & managing partner
ys@aventurescapital.com
Associate
yv@aventurescapital.com
Yevgen Sysoyev
YevheniiVashchuk,CFA
Founded in 2012, we are a leading tech investment
fund and M&A advisory firm focused on global
companies that leverage R&D in Ukraine andCEE
With over 20 companies in its portfolio, AVentures
Capital backs talented entrepreneurs from Ukraine
and CEE to fuel their global expansion in the US and
EU markets
Associate
yuliya@aventurescapital.com
Yuliya Sychikova
AVentures Capital Authors of the report
4. 4
Inaccuracies and updates
Even though we have done our best to provide accurate and complete information, we recognize the limits of such industry reporting. We will be pleased
to receive any corrections, notices of inaccuracies or information on deals we may have missed.
New and updated data will be included in the next publication, improving the level of detail and the quality of the report.
Please submit corrections, updates and/or suggestions to yuliya@aventurescapital.com. Our thanks in advance for your assistance, which will make the
next DealBook a better resource for the investment community.
Copyright policy
The content of this report and its summaries are protected by copyright. Individuals and organizations can, without prior authorization and free of
charge, copy and publish without limitation short extracts in the form of quotes.
This report must be clearly indicated as the source with a link to SlideShare page of the report. To copy and republish large extracts, or the full report, or
for other editorial cooperation opportunities, please contact Yuliya Sychikova at yuliya@aventurescapital.com.
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To inquire about advertising and sponsorship opportunities, or if you would like to get involved in the distribution of this report, please
contact us at yuliya@aventurescapital.com.
Disclaimer
5. 5
2020 in a nutshell
Tech product
companies
Software
development
outsourcing
Exits
Record number and total
volume of deals
Funding
Another record year for total
funding volume, mostly due to
a few large rounds, while early
stage investment is flat
US$ 544m
TotalVC and PE deal volume
First time to surpass US$ 0.5bn pa
US$ 44m
Early stage: Seed and Series-A deals
Access to early-stage capital remains a challenge
US$ 478m
Total volume of tech product exits With most exits under US$ 100m, majority of
startups with US$ 100m-1bn valuations
remain private companies
M&A
Record number of
deals, although most
with a small ticket
Sustained interest from buy-side Seller`s market
• Larger established players consolidate the
industry, harnessing synergies
• Several international strategic players and
PE funds demonstrate interest in acquiring
Ukrainian assets
• Strong trend for industry consolidation
• Few quality companies are put for sale
• We expect more deals in the years to come
Big-ticket exits to internationals
6. 6
Record total
funding volume
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Seed
Series A
Series B
Growth and Secondary
Annual investment volume
US$m
323
544
265
80
146
42
Source: public data
In 2019, for the first time the totalVC and PE
investment volume into Ukrainian tech surpassed a
US$ 500m mark
However, most funds were received by a few global
companies with established US presence that
leverage Ukraine for R&D capabilities
7. 7
3 global companies with
Ukrainian roots raised
77% of 2019 funding
2018
2019
Grammarly: Ukrainian-born unicorn
US$ 1bn+ valuation confirmed in the latest US$
90m funding round
Sources of capital for the largest 3 deals
Global investment funds, such as Iconiq Capital,
General Catalyst, Goldman SachsVC etc.
GitLab direct listing planned for Nov 2020
The first multi-billion listing of Ukrainian-born product
tech company. Last round valuation at US$ 2.5bn
Funding volume breakdown
2018 vs 2019, US$m
US$ 323m
US$ 542m
Source: public data
3 deals, 77% of total 2019 funding
Seed SeriesA Growth deals
Late (growth) stage
People.ai: on the way to a unicorn
Series C funding led by ICONIQ Capital with
participation by A16Z, Lightspeed, GGV, and
YCombinator confirmed the US$ 0.5bn valuation
8. 8
International funds continue to
provide majority of early-stage
financing
1. Early-stage local startup investment
volume flat over 2018 and 2019
22
32
11
30
20
9
3
59 19
26
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Seed Series A
Source: public data
Annual early-stage funding, US$m
31
34
70
49
46
2. Foreign capital
prevalence
• Most Ukrainian funds only support through Seed,
few Series A focused funds most SeriesA
rounds are raised from internationals
• Ukraine-born companies typically build physical
presence in their target markets (US/ EU) and
raise Series A-C abroad
• Result: UA startups compete globally for early-
stage financing in international financing hubs
3. LocalVC funds slowed down new
investments, waiting for exits to raise next
funds
79%
85%
53%
61%
20182019
Seed
Series A
Seed
Series A
Share of foreign
capital invested
• Ukrainian funds invested less, as most of them
have distributed their first funds waiting to
raise a second fund
9. 9
Exits as a sign of maturing
product ecosystem
Target Acquirer Sector Target bio
AI Factory * Snap Computer
vision
AI business solutions based on image and video
recognition, analysis and processing
Cropio Syngenta AgriTech Crop management system. Present in 50+ countries,
10+ mln hectares of crops under management
Murka Blackstone Social casino Social casino development studio. 2nd mobile game
developer in CIS by revenue
Busfor * BlaBlaCar Transportation Bus ticketing online travel agency and distribution
platform
Ajax Security Horizon Capital Security IoT Secondary shares sale: SMRKVC fund partial exit.
Smart security systems manufacturer
Globally-successful Ukrainian product companies attract the interest of strategic players, international
buy-out funds, and generate returns for early backers
Ukrainian product companies
start to be active on buy-side
M&A globally
April 2019
Jiji, owned by Ukrainian-based
Genesis, acquired OLX
operations in 5 countries
across Africa
Note: AI Factory and Busfor are international companies with R&D offices in Ukraine
Source: public data
10. 10
Fund landscape:
most active investors
Seed – Series A Growth stage
LocalForeign
• Most local funds support
Ukraine-born startups through
Seed and SeriesA funding
stages
• An increasing number of
international funds invest across
all stages: from offering world
class acceleration programs to
leading in growth rounds by
Ukrainian startups
• As a result, local funds
increasingly compete with global
players for the best deals
Global competition for best deals
11. 11
Software development M&A
Ukraine remains an R&D
destination for global tech leaders
• Companies with dedicated
R&D presence
• Global R&D employs
thousands of Ukrainian tech
specialists
Global R&D destination
Global service business bedrock
• IT Service exports estimated at
US$ 4.5bn in 2018
• 180k+ IT professionals
• Revenue of Ukrainian IT Service
companies grows at 20-25%YoY
on average
Ongoing market consolidation
Sustained interest from buy-side: strategics and PE funds
Seller`s market
Selected PE funds active in the region Selected strategic players active in acquisitions
• Limited number of companies are put for sale, much more demand to acquire than interest to sell
• Acquirers are looking for: (1) access to ample talent pool, scalability, (2) delivery diversification, (3) vertical
capabilities expansion, (4) client portfolio acquisition and (5) technical / language capabilities
• Ukraine is a part of global consolidation play among software development outsourcing companies
• Key consolidation fundamentals: (1) the competition for talent and (2) market maturity
• Top 5 software development outsourcing companies in Ukraine employ only 15% of total IT professionals population
Source: AVentures Capital
15. 15
Product companies with
most international revenue
Tech holding with fast-
growing products operating
in developed and emerging
markets
AI-powered spell-check SaaS
company
Document
management SaaS
Multifunctional
cryptocurrency
exchange
Leader in Connected
Pets IoT market
segment
Creatio is a leading low-code,
process automation and CRM
company
Security and cleaning
software for Mac
E-commerce travel
distribution company,
EMEA region
Payment and content
distribution platform for digital
goods
Developer of iOS
productivity apps
Mobile app for event
planning
Mac software
development company
Tools to increase user
adoption and ROI of
enterprise applications
(CRM, ERP etc.)
AI platform for enterprise
sales, marketing, and
customer success
Single application for
entire software
development lifecycle
Full-service bitcoin and
blockchain technology
company
Second most visited job
aggregator in the world
Micro-stock photo-bank
online marketplace
Photo editing
software
Smart security systems
manufacturer
16. 16
Top e-commerce
companies
Global players (dropshipping) Local players (locally founded or dedicated presence)
Electronics + marketplace
Fashion + marketplace
Classifieds
owned by Rozetka
Perfumes &
personal care
also #2 in perfumes &
personal care
17. 17
Deals of 2019
Logo Company Sum raised,
US$m
Investors Investment
type
Deal class Brief description
GitLab 268.0 Goldman Sachs, Iconiq Capital, Y Combinator
Continuity Fund
VC Series E Web-based open source Git repository manager
AI Factory 166.0 Snap Strategic M&A Mobile startup developing unique Computer Vision
and AR products
Grammarly 90.0 General Catalyst VC Growth Digital writing assistant
People.ai 60.0 Iconiq, Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed
Venture Partners, GGV Capital, Y Combinator
VC Series C AI platform for enterprise sales, marketing, and
customer success
Jiji 21.0 Knuru Capital VC Series C Online classifieds company
Ajax Systems 10.0 Horizon Capital PE Growth Smart home security systems and sensors
Allset 5.0 EBRD VC Series A On-demand dine-in technology platform
Unstoppable Domains 4.0 Draper Associates VC Series A Domains secured by blockchains and uncensorable
websites
Captain Growth 3.8 Perion Strategic M&A AI-powered app that automates marketing
analytics and finds insights
MyCredit 3.0 TAS Group VC Series A Payday loans platform
PromoRepublic 2.3 Finnish Public Fund, angels VC Seed Social media content automation solution for SMEs
18. 18
Deals of 2019
Logo Company Sum raised,
US$m
Investors Investment
type
Deal class Brief description
Dorian 2.0 March Capital Partners, London Venture
Partners
VC Seed Interactive stories mobile platform
Allright.io 1.5 Flashpoint, angels VC Series A Online English school for children
RetargetApp 1.5 TMT Investments, TA Ventures, Aitarget, angels VC Seed AI-powered digital advertising solution
AxDraft 1.4 FundersClub, SCM Advisors, Overkill, angels VC Seed On-demand automation of legal processes for
enterprise
Liki24 1.0 TA Ventures, Genesis Investments, Mission Tech,
angels
VC Series A Drug delivery service provider
IntellectoKids 1.0 Genesis Investments VC Seed Casual app development for children
Mate Academy 0.6 Genesis Investments, TA Ventures, angels VC Seed Online platform for studying programming
Localhalo 0.5 Angels Angel Seed A smart messenger for chatting with neighbors
Animal ID 0.5 Angels Angel Seed International platform for pet owners
Love&Live Fashion 0.6 SMRK VC Seed A group of fashion brands
Litnet.com 0.3 Admitad Invest VC Seed Online e-book platform
19. 19
Deals of 2019
Logo Company Sum raised,
US$m
Investors Investment
type
Deal class Brief description
DeepTrait 0.3 Starfinder, NCBR, angels VC Seed AI-powered gene analysis solutions
Newoldstamp 0.2 500 Startups Accelerator Seed E-mail signature generator
Respeecher 0.1 Techstars Accelerator Seed Real-time voice cloning technology
SportLab AI 0.1 Angels Angel Seed Sports analytics platform
VR Inn 0.1 Angels Angel Seed VR content marketplace
Nuwork 0.1 Sector X, Unit.City, angels Accelerator Seed Automation of entry-level retail & HoReCa job
applicants screening
Greenbin.app 0.1 Huge Thing Accelerator Seed Packaging tracking system
Do Mite System 0.05 Angels Angel Seed Interactive dashboards for owners and managers of
business
Desnovation 0.03 Steppe VC Seed Residential design marketplace
Measy 0.02 Startup Wise Guys Accelerator Seed Automated remarketing platform for e-commerce
FakesRadar 0.02 Startup Wise Guys Accelerator Seed Fake detection solution
20. 20
Deals of 2019
Logo Company Sum raised,
US$m
Investors Investment
type
Deal class Brief description
AYE Technologies 0.02 Startup Wise Guys Accelerator Seed Eye retina identification solution
Hive.id 0.02 Startup Wise Guys Accelerator Seed Identity management solution
Bot&Partners 0.02 Opendatabot VC Seed Legal big data solution
Revizion 0.01 Angels Angel Seed Client feedback collection solution
Murka n/a Blackstone PE Buyout Online games and social casino development
Busfor n/a BlaBlaCar Strategic M&A Bus ticketing online travel agency and distribution
platform
Cropio n/a Syngenta Strategic M&A Crop health management and vegetation control
platform
OLX Africa n/a Genesis (Jiji) Strategic M&A OLX operations in Nigeria, Kenia, Ghana, Uganda,
Tanzania
StepShot n/a UiPath Strategic M&A Business process automation solutions
Eda Ua n/a Menu Group Strategic M&A Food delivery service
TurnKey Lender n/a OSK Ventures, Vertex Ventures SEA & India,
Western NIS Enterprise Fund
VC Series A Cloud-based lending automation
21. 21
Deals of 2019
Logo Company Sum raised,
US$m
Investors Investment
type
Deal class Brief description
Homsters n/a Ringier, CAV Investment Group VC Seed International real estate marketplace
Zagrava Games n/a Playrix Strategic M&A Mobile game development studio
Doc Ua n/a Effective Investments VC Secondary Online search service for medical appointments
Seadora n/a SMRK VC Seed Seafood delivery platform
PatentBot n/a Angels Angel Seed Chat bot for trademark registration and checking
Kira n/a Icebreaker VC Seed Business analytics for SMEs
GEO Protocol n/a CoinFund VC Seed Value transfer ecosystem, merging blockchain and
traditional finance networks
Basenji Apps n/a Genesis Investments VC Seed E-Learning startup that teaches kids to speak
English
h8games n/a Voodoo Strategic M&A Casual games development
22. 22
Deals of 2019: software development companies
Logo Company Sum raised,
US$m
Investors Investment
type
Deal class Brief description
Ciklum n/a Dragon Capital, AVentures Capital PE Growth Custom software development company
Viseven n/a AVentures Capital VC Series A Healthcare-focused software development
company
Star (ex-Cogniance) n/a NTT Data Strategic M&A Software development outsourcing company
Astound Commerce n/a Salesforce Ventures VC Growth E-commerce solutions provider
Acceptic n/a Yael Group Strategic M&A Custom software development company
Logicify n/a DataArt Strategic M&A Custom software development company
Rozdoum n/a InSoft Software Strategic M&A Custom software development company
Rademade n/a InSoft Software Strategic M&A Custom software development company