The Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) initiative works with dozens of startups and organizations in Ukraine to support ongoing science and technology entrepreneurial ventures. Through our accelerator programs, investor forums, demo days, competitions, and startup trainings, we bring the highest quality U.S. startup expertise to Ukrainian innovators. Our goal is to empower Ukrainians in their efforts to commercialize their science and tech solutions, bringing them out of the lab and into the market.
Why Ukraine?
Ukraine is a vital expression of the US values of innovation. With the culmination of our continued programming in this region, we feel closer than ever to the incredible work being done here.
Our programs are revealing great software and hardware startups in space tech, agrotech, science, medicine, logistics, AI and Blockchain to name a few. The growth of the tech sector in Ukraine alone is more than 25% year-on-year in terms of revenue. The nearly quarter million developers in the country are joined by almost 20,000 fresh graduates annually from IT schools and universities, with the Ukrainian IT sector contributing about 8.3% of the GDP. As it advances into the 21st Century, Ukraine is positioning itself as the premier expert in Artificial Intelligence, as it is currently the number one Artificial Intelligence provider in Eastern Europe. GIST hopes to be a key catalyst in Ukraine’s visions for the future; its success in the coming era is undeniable, and if our current crop of innovators is any indication, the future of this region is bright. Learn more about our current and future programs below!
Most Recent Opportunities
GIST's Business Incubation Ukraine brought together top Ukrainian science and technology innovators with American businesses to increase cross-market access and to create opportunities for collaboration. While in residence at American incubators, entrepreneurs had opportunities to make connections with the local entrepreneurial ecosystem and build business relationships for potential partners and investors. GIST Business Incubation also helped American businesses gain awareness of Ukrainian entrepreneurs, innovations and markets. Learn more!
GIST Innovates Ukraine
Take Your Invention from Lab to Market
GIST Innovates Ukraine is a ten-week pre-accelerator training program modeled after the Lean Startup methodology. Through an in-depth customer discovery process, early-stage entrepreneurs will identify and evaluate opportunities for their venture and make informed decisions on how best to move their idea forward. We aim to provide innovators with the training, mentoring, and resources they need to build their entrepreneurial skills and bring their ideas out of the lab and into the market.
Click here for more information about the 2021 cohort and here to learn about the 2020 cohort's Demo Day where innovators were able to pitch their startup solutions to U.S. experts and investors.
"Participating in GIST Innovates Ukraine saved us from making critical mistakes and going down the wrong path. We saved a lot of time and got going in the right direction to make sure our product was viable."
-GIST Innovates Ukraine 2021 participating startup team
"Before GIST I wasn't a businessperson at all. I was a technical person writing code and developing a product. But now I understand much more about business and how we can apply that to our startup."
-GIST Innovates Ukraine 2021 participating startup team
Ukrainian Startup Successes
Over GIST’s 12-year history, more than 200 Ukrainian entrepreneurs and supporters have completed GIST programs. Read more about a few of our Ukrainian entrepreneurs below.
Anastasiia Smyk | INPUT SOFT
INPUT SOFT is a web platform for companies in the aviation industry which helps optimize resources, reduce costs, and collect and analyze data from airport processes. INPUT SOFT is transforming legacy processes in the aviation industry into digital ones.
GIST Programs:
GIST Business Incubation Ukraine
Nataliya Limonova | GIOS
GIOS is designing an interactive platform for the delivery of remote and blended learning. In addition to keeping students engaged in the educational process, the platform aims to support teachers in organizing remote and hybrid teaching by providing them with a flexible course builder, interactive material library, assessment, and analytics.
GIST Programs:
GIST Innovates Ukraine 2021
GIST Catalyst Pitch Competition 2021
Lixbley
Lixbley is a software company that has designed the LixB Rideshare app, which facilitates ride sharing with the goal of reducing the number of cars on the roads.
GIST Programs:
GIST Innovates Ukraine 2021
Alyona Glushko | iCardy
iCardy is developing a product that detects hidden atrial fibrillation in real time without the internet—detecting AFib more quickly than other products, with an accuracy rate greater than 99%.
GIST Programs:
GIST Business Incubation 2019
GIST Catalyst Pitch Competition 2021
Pavlo Herman | WheelKeep
WheelKeep is a team of cyclists who aim to bring innovative smart bicycle accessories to market. Their first product is a bike tracking device to track stolen bicycles. They participated in the GIST Innovates Ukraine 2021 program.
GIST Innovation Hubs in Ukraine
Innovation Hubs, or IHubs, are designed to build strong and vibrant networks of young science and technology entrepreneurs around the world.
The U.S. Department of State has recognized 36 IHubs globally, 7 of which are located in Ukraine. The hubs are created in partnership with local startup incubators, accelerators, innovation centers, venture groups, training centers, and maker spaces.
Our Ukrainian Innovation Hubs are our regional partners in providing support to entrepreneurs where they are. Through community-led groups, IHubs aim to bolster networking and entrepreneurial skills to build durable, long-term, supportive networks. The ultimate goal of the initiative is to stimulate local entrepreneurial activity and ensure participants can grow their skills and scale their businesses together – both in Ukraine and through the GIST Network’s global connections.
GIST Investors: Venture Forums
GIST Investors has been held in 8 countries and counting around the world. Early-stage investment is one of the key elements that help a startup grow from a small, local enterprise into a source of innovation, employment and economic growth.
In order to create sustainable investment networks, the Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) Initiative has created the Investor Mobilization Training program (GIST Investors). GIST Investors works with in-country stakeholders in the entrepreneurial ecosystem to bolster local financial support for startups.
Rather than building new networks, GIST Investors focuses on existing investor communities and networks in order to provide local support for startups. The program identifies key investors within a country or region who can benefit from participating in the training program. As part of their training, these investors learn how they can strengthen the local systems through places that foster entrepreneurs.
The GIST Investors: Venture Forums are uniquely designed for investors from Ukraine. Regular participants include any angel investor or venture capital investor focused on doing early-stage investment deals and is looking to expand their horizons and learn from American case studies. Participants hear startups pitches, ask questions, and discuss what they would do for due diligence. The discussions are facilitated by leading US investors, who reveal what actually is happening with the startup deals and help guide the due diligence conversations.
These forums are led by internationally acclaimed angel investors and investment experts. The first event in this series took place on 27 January, 2022.
Ukraine Updates
Ukrainian Innovators at CES
GIST was able to help facilitate four exceptional teams from Ukraine showcasing their products at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. Each team was given a booth and the opportunity to present their products to potential customers and investors. The event was followed by a visit to Silicon Valley.
Finding Their Own Path Forward
Eastern and Central Europe has become one of the most important regions for GIST to work in over the past decade, and just about anyone interested in the cutting edge of innovation should be interested in this place as well.
Innovates Ukraine Demo Day
What better way to highlight the fantastic ideas coming out of the Ukrainian science and technology innovation space than to showcase 18 of the most promising startup teams? That is exactly what occurred on Tuesday the 1st of December, 2020. The 8-week GIST Innovates Ukraine program culminated with a demo day, providing the program participants with a virtual audience to present their solutions and business plans. The audience included ecosystem partners, program contributors, program instructors, and corporate partners.
U.S. and Ukraine Unite Around Innovation in D.C.
Out of the forge of inordinate challenges comes a new era of connection between the innovation ecosystems of Ukraine and the United States. The GIST Initiative and the U.S. Department of State are proud to be a part of building this deeper connection and are working to support Ukrainian innovation as it builds a new, ever brighter future.