As part of the startup support fund in Ukraine in 2022, Google Corporation has doubled the financing of Ukrainian companies by allocating $10 million, said the head of Google for Startups, CEE Michał Kramarz at the "Tech Emerging Europe Advocates Meeting 2023" conference in Warsaw.
"Ukrainian startups supported by the fund received $10 million in wartime funding during 2022 and could hire an additional 216 employees. But what is also very important: they were able to increase revenue by 200% year over year, which means that even in difficult times, during the war, in a situation that requires stability, they were able to achieve incredible results," he said.
Kramarz recalled that in March of last year, Google announced the creation of a fund to support startups in Ukraine in the amount of $5 million. As part of it, it was planned to allocate grants of up to $100,000 without participation in companies' capital. Selected startups could also count on corporate mentoring, product support, and Cloud credits.
"We received 1.7 thousand applications from startups from Ukraine, of which 300 were selected. From this number, we initially planned to select 50, but the startups were so good that we said: lets at least try to support more," he said.
Kramarz did not specify the exact number of selected companies but noted that there could not be 100 or 200, as in this case, the financial support program for each company would be very low.
The corporation's representative also announced the launch of an online training program by Google for people who lost their jobs due to the war, but remained in Ukraine and are ready to work. In three weeks, 32,000 people went through the program, and 10% received positive feedback.
Google also supports women with its Founders Fund with women's, which aims to equalize the chances for everyone.
In addition, 60 founders of startups from Ukraine and Belarus are hosted at the Startups Campus Google in Warsaw.
Kramarz expressed hope that after the war, the ecosystems of Poland, Ukraine, and Britain will work even more closely than they do now.
"We have amazing skills. We have wonderful people. Let's try to work more rationally," he said.
