Co-setting up First-ever Ukrainian Pavilion at Web Summit 2021

The creation of national pavilion became possible due to combined efforts of the co-organizers — Ukrainian Startup Fund, the Ministry of Digital Transformation, Sigma Software Group, the Ministry of Foreigh Affairs, Embassy of Ukraine in the Portuguese Republic, Еuropean Business Association, Ukrainian Hub, iplace digital agency — and partners Digital Future, Parimatch Tech, Rocket, Fondy, Avenga, ISSP, Concord Bank,  UNIT.City, and NGO IT Education Development.

Photo credit: Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine (c) Daniyar Sarsenov

Davos for geeks

Just a few mind-boggling numbers about the premier event in tech space:

• More than 70,000 people attended the Summit in 2019, and in 2020 over 100,000 joined remotely when it was held online
• 168 countries were represented at the event in 2020
• Over 1,200 speakers gave speech in 2019, and over 1,130 in 2020
• Each year the Summit gathers at least 2,000 startups, 1,100 investors, and 2,200 media representatives

This year, on November 1 Web Summit returns to Lisbon for the first in-person event in two years. Among the speakers are the inventor of the world wide web Tim Berners-Lee, Microsoft president Brad Smith, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, Amazon CTO Dr Werner Vogels, and other tech stars.

Needless to say that being there is a great opportunity for companies to find new clients, partners, investors, and talents.

“We couldn’t be more excited to return in-person. Seeing people safely re-experiencing the magic of face-to-face interactions will be incredible,” says Paddy Cosgrave, co-founder and CEO of Web Summit.

Ukrainians at Web Summit

Although it is the first official Ukraine’s stand at the Summit, Ukrainians have been organizing side events there since 2017.

Thus, four years ago the UTEW Tech Tribe community led by Alexandra Govorukha and Inna Stelmakh organized the Ukrainian meetup for 150 guests with speakers from the USA, Germany, and Ireland.

In 2019 the Surf Pitch Night was held by Ukrainian tech ecosystem players (UTEW Tech Tribe, TechUkraine, IT Ukraine), government institutions (Export Promotion Office) backed by international NGOs and funds (USAID Ukraine and GIZ Ukraine, USAID Competitive Economy Program in Ukraine). At that event, 21 startup founders pitched to the 200 international guests from Techstars, Startup Lisboa, and other leading accelerators and funds. The same year UNIT.City innovation park organized a Ukrainian party where they gathered more than 300 guests.

Next step: Ukraine’s pavilion

With its growing tech ecosystem, this year Ukraine is making a step forward organizing the very first national pavilion to represent its startups, IT service companies, funds, and innovations at their best.

As of today, Ukraine’s IT industry is booming, growing five times faster (25%) than the global average (4-6%). Here are some striking numbers:

• 5,000 IT companies
• 250,000 developers
• 4 unicorns
• Ukrainian startups raised $2 bln in VC investments in 6 years
• By 2025, the industry is projected to generate $10 bln

In order to support and strengthen the brand of Ukraine as a high-tech country — Mykhailo Fedorov, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, will deliver a separate presentation at one of the Web Summit’s stages. The Minister is going to present the top-achievements of Ukrainian digitalization for the past 2 years with focus on Diia ecosystem. He also plans to highlight the topics that might be of high interest for investors and IT specialists: special tax regime Diia.City; tax optimization for the IT industry and e-Residency project.
In addition to the pavilion, organizers will hold a special presentation to be included in the Web Summit official agenda and a Ukrainian dinner. On the 2^nd of November, prominent Ukrainian tech companies will present the Ukrainian tech ecosystem to the participants.

Photo credit: Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine (c) Daniyar Sarsenov

On top of that, many Ukrainian startups will visit Web Summit, 14 of them will pitch their products to investors directly from the national stand. Ten of them were selected and sponsored by the Ukrainian Startup Fund via a competitive selection. These are the startups: SPOKK, Organization GG, Wantent, GIOS, Carbominer, Skyworker, Clasee, DJOOKY, AutoBI, Finmap. They will receive a promo voucher with funding of up to $3,000 per team*. We are proud that one of them, Finmap, is backed by our business incubator Sigma Software Labs.

Other 4 startups will be chosen and backed by the Ukrainian Hub (supported by CRDF Global).

A word from the organizers

“The joint presentation of the Ukrainian pavilion at the biggest and most well-known tech conference in Europe — Web Summit, is an indicator that business and government are moving in the same direction. Ukraine is a powerful global IT hub. We have something to offer other countries: digital public services, innovative projects, and the developed IT industry. Participation in Web Summit will have a positive effect on creating the image of Ukraine as a digital state of the future and a favourable jurisdiction for investors,” says Mykhailo Fedorov, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine.

Photo credit: Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine (c) Daniyar Sarsenov

Alexandra Govorukha, a representative of the organizers committee, Head of International PR at Sigma Software also believes that the creation of the national pavilion at events of such scale is the right and logical step for Ukraine: “The Ukrainian community has always been represented at Web Summit by a large number of companies. The appearance of our own pavilion for the first time is a signal that we are perceived as serious and influential players in the technology field. It is super important for the country’s image to be well represented at the event that defines the whole ecosystem.”

Photo credit: Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine (c) Daniyar Sarsenov

Co-organizers — Ukrainian Startup Fund, the Ministry of Digital Transformation, Ukrainian Hub, the Ministry of Foreigh Affairs, Embassy of Ukraine in Portuguese Republic, Sigma Software Group, Еuropean Вusiness Аssociation, and iplace digital agency.

General partner of the presentation — Digital Future.
Information partner — IT Ukraine.

Partners — Parimatch Tech, Rocket, Fondy, Avenga, ISSP, Concord Bank, UNIT.City, and NGO IT Education Development