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Over the last year, founders from Ukraine’s startup ecosystem have had to learn how to run their businesses in previously unimaginable circumstances.

They’ve worked from bomb shelters and metro stations, sometimes with no electricity or water, all while their lives remain under a constant threat. 

And despite all that, Ukraine’s IT sector actually grew in 2022. What’s more, 75% of founders say they’re positive about the future of the Ukrainian startup market, according to a report by the Polish-Ukraine Startup Bridge.

But behind those statistics lie hundreds of individual stories: businesses that lost clients and investors overnight; founders operating under enormous financial and mental pressure; people forced to leave their hometowns and families and who have lost loved ones.

Over the past few months, Sifted has been in touch with dozens of Ukrainian founders to hear how they’ve managed to keep their startups afloat amid the war. 

Today, almost one year after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, we’re bringing you their stories. 

Read about their experiences here — and listen to them tell their stories in their own words in our special podcast.

— Zosia Wanat, senior CEE correspondent

🦄 Which VCs have backed the most unicorns? Here are the European investors that have backed the most $1bn startups.

💰 The European VCs set to raise new funds this year. It might not be a great time to fundraise, but some VCs are running out of powder.

🤖 GenAI is the talk of the town right now. But are we losing sight of the bigger picture? And which generative AI companies will actually succeed?

🛫 Bill Gates-backed startup aiming for emission-free air travel. Heart Aerospace has raised $100m and already sold 200+ electric planes to the US and Canada.

🛵 Getir to lay off UK-based Gorillas staff. After the speedy grocery giants merged last year, staff at their UK HQ are set to lose their jobs.

🧪 14 techbio "soonicorns". Meet our pick of the hottest startups using tech in medical research labs across Europe.

🇸🇪 Why Sweden is (still) betting on the metaverse. (Sponsored by Business Sweden)

💰 Series A

• 🇬🇧 Creator platform Vault Laboratories has raised $4m.
• 🇫🇷 Omie & Cie, a sustainable food delivery platform, has raised €15m from investors including XAnge and Founders Future.
• 🇪🇸 Enigmedia, a Spanish data encryption startup, has raised $9.4m.

💰 Pre-seed + seed

• 🇫🇮 Alt-fat startup Äio has raised €1m.
• 🇫🇷 Blobr, a Paris-based B2B data exchange platform, has raised €5m from investors including Seedcamp.
• 🇫🇷 CryptoSimple, a crypto investment app, has raised €1m.
• 🇬🇧 Cybersecurity startup Sitehop has raised £1m.

Funding into Europe's electric mobility sector has skyrocketed in recent years, from €2bn in 2019 to €7bn in 2022. But there are still big roadblocks in the way of progress:

• Inflation and rising interest rates will see consumers think twice about big-ticket purchases;
• Manufacturers and gigafactories require big up-front investments, run on high cost and manage a low profit margin;
• EV infrastructure is lacking;
• EV battery supply chains are struggling to keep up with EV demand while facing growing scrutiny over the environmental cost of extracting battery metals.

We take a look at the investors and startups getting stuck into those challenges in our latest Pro Briefing. None more so than Swedish gigafactory Northvolt, which has picked up more than $5bn in funding since 2016.

The stats:

If you've got intel for a story you think needs to be told, let us know — confidentially. 

Kai Nicol-Schwarz

Reporter

Get in touch with him at

kai@sifted.eu

He tweets from 

@NicolSchwarzK

Tom Nugent

Digital Editor

Get in touch with him at

tom@sifted.eu

He tweets from

@TJNugent92

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