Companies with Ukrainian roots are valued at $2.5 trillion: the evolution of the Ukrainian tech ecosystem
29 October 2025 13:08
Ukraine is gradually becoming one of the world’s most prominent tech players. According to Anatoliy Amelin, executive director and co-founder of the Ukrainian Institute for the Future think tank, companies with Ukrainian roots have a combined market capitalization of more than $2.5 trillion. This portfolio includes 20 companies, 60% of which were founded directly in Ukraine – in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Donetsk, reports "Komersant Ukrainian".
Among the tech giants are Meta Platforms, where WhatsApp was co-founded by Kyiv-born Jan Koum; PayPal and Affirm, created by Max Levchin; and Revolut, co-founded by Vlad Yatsenko from Odesa. At the same time, products born in Ukraine – Grammarly, GitLab, EPAM Systems, Genesis – have become an integral part of the global digital economy.
Amelin identifies four waves of development of the Ukrainian tech ecosystem, closely linked to geopolitical events.
The first one was in the late 1990s, when a wave of emigration after the economic crisis gave the world the “Ukrainian mafia” of Silicon Valley – Levchin and Kouma. The second was the “Kyiv Renaissance” of 2009-2014, when Grammarly, GitLab, and Genesis appeared against the backdrop of the global financial crisis.
The third wave, after 2014, was the stage of diversification under fire, when the war forced companies to switch to a hybrid model: headquarters in the West and R&D centers in Ukraine. This was the birth of the Revolut phenomenon and the resilience story of Max Polyakov’s Firefly Aerospace.
Finally, the fourth wave is the sustainability award. Despite the full-blown invasion of 2022, Ukrainian tech companies not only survived but also showed growth. Grammarly’s revenue grew by 30%, Preply’s user base by 40%, and none of the top 20 companies went bankrupt.
“While we are very cautious about 300 thousand IT specialists and 6 billion in exports, Ukrainian expats have already created a powerful international ecosystem.
The only thing I miss is for Ukraine to offer them and other investors the same conditions as Ireland, so that they all move their offices to Ukraine,” Amelin summarized.
Ukraine’s tech ecosystem has proven that it can not only survive, but thrive during a time of war, laying the foundation for a future economic miracle.
