The global pandemic in 2020 has brought new shifts and changed the market. In 2019 the startup economy was estimated at $3 trillion. However, pandemic changed many things. Regarding the research that was conducted by Startup Genome, 72 % of the world’s startups faced a revenue fall. The average decline was about 32%. The sharing economy has mostly suffered, it was headed by companies like Uber, Airbnb, WeWork. There was a dramatic drop in consumer demand and venture capitals created unavoidable layoffs.
The travel and tourism sector had a drop in revenue of around 70%, the beauty and fashion sectors demonstrated a 59% drop in revenue, the automotive sector showed a 43% decline in revenue. The Tech sector also faced some financial losses: social media startups decreased by 22%, blockchain, and crypto by 14%.
Meanwhile, 12% of startups have shown significant growth. For example, Zoom and remote conferencing experienced a boom. This upside trend is going to stay even after the pandemic.
Pandemic has brought new tendencies to the world and business.
Remote work. During the pandemic, people were working from home more. 34 % of companies stated that remote work gave a positive impact. Some companies have decided to let workers perform remotely even when the pandemic is over. Remote work also gives many benefits to companies. Businesses can access new talent pools with fewer location constraints and significantly reduce the real estate cost.
Many entrepreneurs will be likely to create a startup to provide next-generation meeting and remote working services.
Pandemics brought some unprecedented human challenges. Low-Income communities have suffered when the pandemic has started, many people jumped on crowdfunding campaigns. In March 2020, 1-mask-at-a-time, a GoFoundMe, which was founded by two stay-at-home moms, raised thousands of dollars to provide gloves and masks to hospitals in New York and New Jersey. Also, it was noticed that people more often help their elderly neighbors to get groceries, etc.
COVID-19 has put a tendency for people to help each other. Apps that are based on collaboration and development can be funded and raised.
The app Nextdoor tracked a 262 % increase in conversations around help on the platform. After adding a “Help Map” they were able to know in which locations people who need help are situated. Nextdoor managed to raise $170 million in the last funding round.
Revolutionary initiatives.
Pandemic has shown that even during a crisis, companies can be successful. Fitness studios provide virtual classes, entertainment companies accelerate VR programs, medical appointments occur online, etc. This kind of challenge has shown that there is a need for innovative solutions. It has been thought that such isolation can bring burnout and loneliness. That’s why there is a need in creating apps for remote conferences, gatherings, workspaces, AR, VR, and apps that bring people closer to the help of cloud computing, better internet speed, and AI.
The crisis might be considered to be a good chance of developing opportunities. Even though the period might seem to be tough, there are a lot of chances to change the world.
Despite all the ups and downs which 2020 brought to the business, startups in Ukraine kept raising investments. There were found the most successful Ukraine startups in 2020 with a significant amount of investments. Below you can find the best startups in Ukraine, and the number of investments received in 2020.
1.Revolut has received $500 million of investments.
This is the British fintech project which positions itself as a bank without any branches. Operations are done via an application on the smartphone. A co-founder of this project is Vladislav Yatsenko. He is a native Ukrainian. At the beginning of 2020, the company’s investments were raised to $ 6 billion. Revolut is funded by 39 investors. The main investor are the Technology Crossover and Lakestar.
2.Preply has received $10 million of investments.
It is an international educational platform for studying foreign languages. Founders are Sergei Lukyanov, Dmitry Voloshin, and Kirill Bigay. In May 2020 the company raised funds over $ 15 million. The total funding is $ 15.5 million. Preply is funded by 25 investors. The main investor is the London venture fund Hoxton Ventures.
3.Allset has received $8.25 million of investments.
It is a mobile app that can help you with restaurant services (to choose a service, to order, to pay). Founders are Anna Polishchuk, Stas Matvienko. Because of the coronavirus situation, they managed to attract only $ 8 million instead of the planned $ 12 million. The total funding amount is $ 16.6 million. It is funded by 10 investors. Greycroft and Andreessen Horowitz are the most recent investors.
4.DMarket has received $6,5 million of investments.
This startup is aimed at monetizing items in games. The company was launched by Vladimir Panchenko, Tamara Slanova, and co-founder of the e-sports club Natus Vincere Alexander Kokhanovsky. The total funding amount is $ 26.2 million. It is funded by 6 investors.The most recent Investors of the company are Almaz Capita and Xsolla.
5.Zakaz.ua has received €5 million of investments.
The company lets order products online and deliver them from popular supermarket chains. The startup was founded by Yegor Anchishkin. The total funding amount is $ 9.2 million. It is funded by 4 investors. The most recent investor is Chernovetskyi Investment Group.
6.ClassTag has received $5 million of investments.
The idea of this business is that parents can talk to their children’s teachers online. The founder is Vlada Lotkina. The total funding amount is $ 8.9 million. It is funded by 11 investors. The main investors are AlleyCorp, Contour Ventures, Founder Collective, John Martinson, Newark Venture Partners, Smart Hub, and TMT Investments.
7.Rentberry has received $4.5 million of investments.
It is a Ukrainian real estate startup. It was born in the US, but after scaling to Europe, Asia. Founders are Alexei Lyubinsky, Lilia Ostapchuk, Alexander Kotovskov, and Denis Golubovsky. In 2020 they managed to raise $4.5 million of investments. The total funding amount is $8.8 million. It is funded by 7 investors. The most recent investors are Sunmeet Jolly and Bay Wharf Capital.
8.3DLook has received $1mln of investments.
The idea of this business is the technology of scanning the human body from photos with the help of artificial intelligence, neural networks, and 3D technology. It was founded by Vadim Rogovsky. The total funding amount is $4.7 million. It is funded by 12 investors. The main investors are the financial group ICU Ventures, A venture investor from Kazakhstan, Murat Abdrakhmanov, and several angels from the United States.
9.Astromix has received $300,000 of investments.
The idea of the startup is to make personalized horoscopes. The founder is Dmitry Tkachenko. The investor is Adventures Lab.
10.Mriyar has received $300,000 of investments.
This is b2b and b2c platforms for the auto parts trade. $300,000 of investment was spent on launching the b2b part of the platform, the other part on developing the b2c part of the project.The total funding amount is $300,000.
11.Elision has received $150,000 million of investments.
This startup is working on the development of a platform for the distribution and monetization of podcasts. The total funding amount is $150,000 million. The main investor is a venture capital fund Genesis Investments.
12.Propertymate has received $120,000 million of investments.
Propertymate develops a platform for real estate agents. It was founded by Ukrainians Bohdan Hnatkovskyi and Sofia Vyshnevska. The total funding amount is $120,000 million. It is funded by 2 investors.
13.Go To-U has received $100,000 of investments.
Go To-U is working on creating a marketplace that connects businesses that own charging stations and electric car drivers. It is funded by 3 investors. The main investors are Techstarts and IMPACT Accelerator..
14.Very Good Security
It provides modern data security and custodianship solutions. The investments were raised from Visa. However, the amount of investments is not disclosed.
15.eForce
It is a startup about cybersport. Russian company Tribuna.com invested in it. However, the amount of investments is not disclosed.
16.Reface
This is an AI powered app. There people can swap faces in the video, GIFs and images within some seconds. The founders of Reface are Denis Dmitrenko, Dima Shvets, Ivan Altsybieiev, Kyrylo Syhyda, Oles Petriv, Roman Mogylnyi, Yaroslav Boiko. The main investor is Adventures Lab. The amount of investments is undisclosed.
Some startups have appeared recently in 2020. They are still at the angel, seed step.
17.Carbominer
This startup has been found in 2020. It is aimed at developing technology for carbon dioxide production from open air. The idea is to capture CO2 from the open air and develop an alternative to the CO2. The main investor here is SMRK VC Fund. However, the amount of investments in nondisclosed.
18.OVO
This startup allows users to order and receive vegetables and fruits. The main investor here is Fedoriv Group. The amount of investments is also nondisclosed.
Even though the pandemic in the world brought its own corrections to business, some Ukrainian startups attracted a significant amount of investments. The 2019 year has shown that not all businesses were flexible and sustainable to changes, there was a meaningful drop in revenue. However, the pandemic situation showed new tendencies, which are going to change the whole business system and move most of the things online. The new startups with capturing ideas and the ones following tendencies are about to be born in the nearest future.
