The lasting impact of Google’s support for Ukrainian founders
In March 2022, we launched the first Google for Startups Ukraine Support Fund, which has gone on to provide $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 a second 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, underscored the strategic importance of continuing to invest in the Ukrainian tech ecosystem. The fund was operated by 1991 Accelerator, Ukraine’s first and largest accelerator.
Today, we are pleased to share that the second fund which ran through 2024–2025, is now complete.
From survival to AI and Deep Tech
From over 1,700 applications, we conducted more than 300 interviews and selected 98 startups over 4 cohorts to join the second program. Each received up to $100,000 in non-dilutive funding, crucial mentorship support and up to $350,000 in Google Cloud credits.
While in 2022 we saw companies from different industries focused on survival, in 2024 we witnessed a boom in startups solving complex new challenges driven by the war. We saw a surge of innovation in security, countering disinformation, health and medtech and advanced demining technologies.
A significant emphasis was placed on Artificial Intelligence. While AI was an emerging field in 2022 among startups applying for support, by 2024, we saw a boom in AI-first companies applying this technology to solve complex, global problems.
A prime example is Deus Robotics, who are 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 major logistics firms.
Founders’ voices
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 impact is already clear: companies like Finmap and Uspacy are expanding to new international markets. Others, like Wareflow and BazaIT, are using AI to drive economic opportunity. Global recognition has followed: the founders of Legal Nodes were listed in 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 impact goes beyond financing. It’s about direct integration with Google's technology and the power of 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 countering disinformation:
Mental health platform Clearly is one of the program's most explosive success stories, demonstrating massive growth by integrating some of Google’s most advanced technology:
A combined legacy
This second fund brought our total commitment to $15 million, supporting 156 startups in total since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Combined, these companies raised over $60 million in follow-on funding, grew their revenues by approximately 100%, and created over 500 new jobs.
Active financing for the second fund is now complete and we are focusing on concluding the final mentorship sessions. We are incredibly proud that this initiative has proven that investing in Ukrainian resilience delivers stunning economic results and solves global problems. This is a story not just of survival, but of the competitive growth of Ukrainian technology.
