Ukrainian IT companies received $571 million in investments by the end of 2020, which is $27 million more than in 2019.
The relevant data was published in the annual study of investments in the Ukrainian IT sector DealBook of Ukraine: 2021 from the investment fund AVentures Capital.
Some 62% of the total amount was attracted by four global companies with Ukrainian roots – GitLab, Creatio, Restream and airSlate.
GitLab became the first multi-billion dollar company established in Ukraine. It was estimated at $6 billion.
According to the study, 2020 was a record year for financing at an early stage – in seed and A-rounds, it was possible to attract $161 million, most of which from international investors, and this is 3.5 times more than in 2019.
The fastest growing startup in 2020 is Reface.ai application, which lets one swap faces in videos. Since its launch in January, the application has been downloaded 70 million times.
The rating of companies with the highest international income includes Jooble, Genesis, Grammarly, airSlate, Creatio and others.
Investments in the infrastructure of the Bukovel ski resort in 2020 amounted to $ 15 million, and in general, since 2002, some $ 400 million has been invested in it, Bukovel co-owner Oleksandr Shevchenko has told Interfax-Ukraine.
“We managed to keep the attendance at the level of last year, despite the COVID crisis, primarily due to the wide and flexible offer,” Shevchenko said at the Ukraine.30 forum.
According to him, the average cost per tourist also did not change – about EUR150 per day, however, one can find a place for accommodation from UAH 50 per day, many people bought ski passes in advance: in summer they were on a special offer with a 50% discount.
Shevchenko says that thanks to Bukovel, more than 50,000 places of accommodation have been created, and more than 100,000 local residents are employed in the tourism industry.
He also announced readiness to join the reconstruction of the airport in Ivano-Frankivsk, which would improve the quality of the resort.
“We are ready to engage in the reconstruction with the forces available to us, invest our own funds in the terminal. Considering the state monopoly on the runway, we are ready to offer our participation in its restoration,” the Bukovel co-owner told the agency.
According to him, the renovation and completion of the runway would provide Ivano-Frankivsk with international air gates and increase the attractiveness of the region for foreign tourists.
Creatio, a corporate group providing a leading low-code platform for process management and CRM, which includes Terrasoft in its group, has raised minority investments in the amount of $68 million from Volition Capital Fund IV, L.P. (the United States) and Horizon Capital, the company said on Monday.
As noted in the message, Volition Capital acted as a lead investor, and Horizon Capital acted as a co-investor.
Creatio said that company’s team, management, and strategy, as well as its product vision and willingness to provide an exceptional customer experience, remain unchanged.
The received funds will be used to further accelerate expansion in the global market, strengthen R&D and actively develop the partner ecosystem in 110 countries of the world.
“Now is a critical time for digital and IT leaders to leverage tech and transform their organizations into low-code companies. This investment will allow us to keep building toward the vision of creating the new world, where any company can automate and change their business processes at speed and scale,” co-founder and CEO at Creatio Katherine Kostereva said.
Managing Partner at Volition Capital Sean Cantwell, in turn, said that market category of low-code platforms for process management and CRM has outstanding growth potential.
Creatio notes that according to analysts’ forecasts, the volume of the global market of low-code platforms will reach $187 billion by 2030.
“We are delighted to partner with the Creatio team. Creatio truly has it all to deliver on its ambitious expansion plans – a first-class team committed to its customers, solid execution, and strong product innovation,” Founding Partner and CEO at Horizon Capital Lenna Koszarny said.
As reported, earlier the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine gave permission to change the ownership structure of the Creatio Group and the entry of Volition Capital Fund as a minority shareholder.
The Creatio partner network numbers 700 or more organizations around the world. One of the key players in the global low-code, BPM and CRM market is Terrasoft, known for its Creatio (formerly bpm’online) software products. Terrasoft is part of the Creatio international group of companies, which employs 600 or more people, and clients are represented in 100 or more countries.
Volition Capital is a joint-stock company investing in high-potential technology companies owned by their founders.
CREATIO, HORIZON CAPITAL, INVESTMENTS, US VOLITION CAPITAL FUND
Foreign direct investments in Ukraine in q-iii of 2020 (operations, $ MLN).
NBU
Ukrainian company Augmented Pixels, which is based in Palo Alto (California, the United States) and develops products in the fields of navigation, digital mapping and virtual/augmented reality, has raised $2 million in investments.
“Augmented Pixels, Inc. closed a $2M funding round from current and new investors and completed the development of indoor navigation, earth-scale 3D mapping and cloud localization technologies,” CEO and Founder of Augmented Pixels Vitaliy Goncharuk has said.
Augmented Pixels will use the funds to continue its innovative R&D efforts while also expanding with an executive team based in the United States.
In general, the company has raised $7 million since 2015.
As reported, ICU invested in Augmented Pixels in July 2020. The amount of the investment was not disclosed.
The volume of investments in household solar power plants reached EUR 600 million from 2015 by the end of 2020, the State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving has reported.
“As of the end of 2020, there are more than 29,900 families in Ukraine who have installed solar panels. Their total capacity reaches 780 MW,” the agency said on Facebook.
According to the report, the top three in terms of the number of household solar plants are Dnipropetrovsk (4,184), Ternopil (2,512) and Kyiv (2,350) regions.
The agency also indicated that from 2018 to 2020 inclusive, the number of households with solar plants increased fourfold – from 7,450 to 29,900.
Taking into account the agency’s data for the first three quarters of 2020, in its last quarter, the capacity of solar plants increased by 68 MW, and investments by EUR 40 million. The number of households that connected home solar generation facilities rose by almost 1,500.
