In March 2022, we launched the first Google for Startups Ukraine Support Fund, which has awarded $5 million in equity-free cash awards to 58 recipients. In 2024, following the incredible resilience and growth of Ukraine’s entrepreneurs, we announced the launch of another Google for Startups Ukraine Support Fund. This time we doubled our commitment to $10 million. The announcement, made in Munich during a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, underlined the strategic importance of continuing to invest in the Ukrainian tech ecosystem. The fund was run by the 1991 Accelerator, Ukraine’s first and largest accelerator.
Today we are pleased to share that the second fund, which ran through 2024-2025, has now ended.
From survival to AI and Deep Tech
From over 1,700 applications, we conducted more than 300 interviews and selected 98 startups across 4 cohorts to participate in the second program. Each received up to $100,000 in non-dilutive funding, crucial mentoring support and up to $350,000 in Google Cloud credits.
While in 2022 we saw companies from various industries focused on survival, in 2024 we saw a boom in startups solving complex new challenges driven by the war. We saw a wave of innovation in security, countering disinformation, health and medico, and advanced demining technologies.
Much emphasis was placed on artificial intelligence. While AI was a burgeoning field in 2022 among startups applying for funding, in 2024 we saw a boom in AI-first companies applying this technology to solve complex, global problems.
A good example is Deus Robotics, which is transforming warehouse operations with an AI platform that orchestrates robots from any manufacturer. Originally a robotics company, Deus Robotics has shifted decisively to software, building in an AI layer that turns fragmented warehouse fleets into a single, intelligent system. Their system has already delivered up to 300% efficiency gains for large logistics companies.
The voices of the founders
Together, these startups are already making incredible progress. To date, the recipients of the second fund have raised $19 million in follow-on funding and hired more than 300 new people. The effect is already clear: Companies such as Finmap and Uspacy are expanding into new international markets. Others, like Wareflow and BazaIT, use artificial intelligence to create economic opportunities. Global recognition has followed: the founders of Legal Nodes were listed on Forbes Europe’s 30 under 30 list, and Haiqu was named one of Europe’s 11 most promising quantum companies by Sifted.
However, the fund’s effect extends beyond financing. It’s about direct integration with Google’s technology and the strength of the community. For many startups, one of the program’s key values ​​was the “Google Brand Effect,” which opened doors that were previously closed, as explained by the team at LetsData, a startup that counters disinformation: