Top 10 Ukrainian Startups Changing the World

Have you ever wondered who actually develops the popular apps and devices you use in your everyday life? If not, you'll be surprised to learn just how many of them are products of Ukrainian companies that continue to work and grow even during the war.

Text editing and document management, home security, pet care, video streaming, job hunting, taxi services, remote learning, international banking, as well as cleaning, protecting, and speeding up your computer – all of these are successfully handled by Ukrainian IT startups.

Grammarly

Initially, Ukrainians Oleksiy Shevchenko and Max Lytvyn, along with engineer Dmytro Lider, created a program to detect plagiarism, which soon started being used by over 800 universities worldwide. The team then pondered why plagiarism even exists. The answer was obvious – people don't know how to write correct texts on their own, leading them to resort to copying. In 2009, the idea of Grammarly was born – a service that helps users write correctly in English, express their thoughts clearly and concisely, create more engaging narratives, and maintain the appropriate tone, such as keeping a formal style when needed. By 2019, Grammarly was valued at $1 billion.

Petcube

We've already written about how desperately Ukrainians are saving their pets from the war. It’s no wonder that these pet lovers, long before the Russian aggression – back in 2012 – created Petcube, which helps pets avoid stress while waiting for their owners, who are out earning their tasty treats and toys. Today, Petcube comes in three variations: an aluminium cube with a camera and sound to communicate remotely with your pet; the same model but with a treat dispenser; and a device with a laser pointer, so the owner can play with their cat or dog from the office. After the full-scale invasion, Petcube, originally founded in Kyiv and now based in San Francisco, joined the United24 charity project, donating part of its income to Ukraine's reconstruction.

Ajax Systems

Anyone concerned about protecting their home from burglary, fires, or flooding knows that products from the tech company Ajax Systems are a mark of quality. However, few people realise that this is a Ukrainian company, founded in 2011 by Oleksandr Konotopskyi. He initially started his business by importing Chinese security systems, but customers regularly complained about the quality. As a result, the company opened two factories near Kyiv and began developing and producing various sensors, control panels, hubs, repeaters, surveillance cameras, and alarms, equipped with high-quality hardware and their own software.

Readdle

This Ukrainian company is based in Odesa and San Francisco. In 2007, its co-founders wanted to be able to browse their favourite books on the first iPhone – the one and only device they had, which they bought together. Eventually, the programmers created a convenient browser extension for Safari. The product became so popular that Readdle was soon officially invited to create a standalone app for the App Store, which today is known to all Apple users as Documents. In addition to this, Readdle develops PDF Expert – a file editor for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The company also has products for Android users, such as the email client Spark.

Jooble

Anyone who has searched for a job in the past 20 years knows Jooble – a job search service headquartered in Kyiv. Every month, about 40 million people in 70 countries find employment through Jooble, earning the company a place in the top 10 job search engines worldwide. The way Jooble works is simple: the service gathers job listings from company websites, media publications, and recruitment agency pages. Clients can then filter vacancies by various criteria, choose the one that interests them, and be redirected to the employer's website.

Restream

If you’re a blogger, gamer, or journalist who enjoys working live, today all you need is a smartphone. But there’s one issue – to reach the largest audience, you need to stream on multiple platforms simultaneously. To make this easy and convenient, the Ukrainian-American startup Restream allows users to broadcast to three dozen streaming services across the US, UK, China, India, Germany, Japan, and South Korea. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, this greatly helped the World Health Organization reach a truly large audience – millions of people worldwide were able to receive up-to-date information on the virus and its treatment.

Uklon

Today’s Zoomers might find this hard to believe, but there was once a time when you couldn't just order pizza, beer, or a taxi from your phone app while lounging on the sofa. Back in those ancient days, Ukrainian entrepreneurs founded Uklon in Kyiv, which is now well known not only in Ukraine but also in many Eastern European countries. It's a taxi aggregator and mobile app that already has around 10 million users. Besides its main activity, Uklon is also heavily involved in Ukraine's victory – for instance, shortly after the full-scale invasion, the company introduced a new vehicle class, "Evacuation," making it easier for Ukrainians to get from frontline cities to safer areas.

Preply

During the pandemic, many developed countries re-evaluated their rigid adherence to in-person education, and thousands of companies rushed to develop products for remote learning. However, some saw the potential long before – like Ukrainian company Preply, founded in 2012, which offers a platform to connect students with tutors globally and provides secure communication. The service is most commonly used for learning 50 widely spoken languages, but tutors for subjects like algebra, chemistry, biology, and art can also be found here.

MacPaw

Founded in 2008 by Oleksandr Kosovan, Kyiv-based company MacPaw develops around a dozen software products for macOS, iOS, Android, and Windows. Its flagship product is CleanMyMac, with over 20 million downloads, the first version of which Kosovan wrote while still a student at Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. It's believed that at least one of MacPaw’s products is installed on every fifth Macintosh worldwide. Kosovan’s love for these computers is also reflected in the creation of a vintage Mac museum at MacPaw’s Kyiv headquarters in 2017, one of the largest of its kind globally:

Alty

Ukrainian company Alty is a leader in software development for international banking and financial institutions in the CEMEA region. However, during the war, the company expanded its scope. Alty helped the state resist Russian occupiers by developing an app to teach Ukrainians basic first aid. The company also worked with the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to create a mobile tracker for more accurate calculations of enemy personnel losses.