This year’s UNICORN contest marked a significant milestone for Ukrainian startups. For the first time, our competition became part of the global Startup World Cup 2024, providing a platform for local startups to step up and showcase their potential on the international stage. Together with our partner — EIT Community RIS Hub Ukraine and with the support of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine — we contributed to the ecosystem that supports the growth and development of Ukrainian startups.
The numbers speak for themselves: over 120 startups applied to participate in the national selection. The interest in the contest was unprecedented, reaching a total audience of 700,000+ people across various channels. But that’s just the beginning!
UNICORN program prepared Ukrainian startups for the global stage
The Ukrainian round of the Startup World Cup was backed by the UNICORN program, where our startups went through an intensive two-week training that included 30+ hours of personalized mentorship from industry experts and top professionals. The focus was on refining their pitches, strengthening business models, and getting ready for the big stage.
Here’s a line-up of mentors who supported the teams:
- Jeff Cabili — Stanford Continuing Studies Instructor in Communication
- Christian Bjerre Nielsen — Business Expert from Copenhagen
- Mike Sapiton — Communications Professional at SID Venture Partners
- Kateryna Pastoshchuk — Growth Expert at Uklon
- Julia Kravchuk — Communications Guru at Mono, ex-Reface
- Andrii Kravchenko — Product Design Lead at Revolut
- Sergiy Potapov — PM Expert, UCU Business School (LvBS) and Director of Organizational Development at IT Specialist
- Alex Sabov — UI Engineer at Netflix
UNICORN Demo Day
The UNICORN Demo Day became the key highlight of the program. Over 100 participants joined the mentoring sessions, and 48 promising teams got a chance to pitch their ideas and secure a place in the final. The atmosphere was electric, with each team demonstrating the progress they had made and their readiness to scale.
Only 10 startups were selected to move forward to the Ukrainian national final of Startup World Cup:
- ECOFACTOR — an ecosystem for seamless electric vehicle charging.
- Wild.Codes — a marketplace offering pre-vetted remote developers to accelerate team scaling and project development.
- CoSupport AI — a solution that enhances customer support and empowers businesses with data-driven insights.
- PEONY — producing single-use eco-pads that decompose in water when flushed in the toilet.
- ColMatEk — innovative hemostatic and wound healing solutions.
- Uspacy — an online workspace for organizing internal processes of small and medium-sized businesses.
- if.team — all-in-one ERP software for project-focused companies.
- HOWCOW — a unique cow health tracking system with AI-powered smart collars.
- Falco (Single Board Computer) — a modern and feasible CDHM CubeSat platform.
- Metaenga — an XR training platform that provides VR training solutions to enhance workforce development.
Awards for UNICORN’s rising stars
But we didn’t stop at mentoring, — we also rewarded the best teams with awards and provided them with no-equity grants to help them grow and develop: 1st Place: PEONY — $3,000, 2nd Place: Wild.Codes, 3rd Place: CoSupport AI — $1,000.
Kyiv’s startup spirit takes center stage
The excitement continued to build up as we approached the Ukrainian national final of the Startup World Cup on September 4th. Hosted at the Parkovy Exhibition and Convention Center in the heart of Kyiv, the event brought together over 160 guests eager to see which startup would win the opportunity to represent Ukraine on the global stage in San Francisco. The event featured the top 15 teams: nine from the UNICORN track and six Established Startups including Spendbase, Beholder, effie>, Tur.ai, DjookyX, Clearly presented their pitches in front of an esteemed jury panel, including:
- Daria Yaniieva — Investment Director at Sigma Software Labs
- Dmytro Vartanian — CFO at Sigma Software Group, General Managing Partner at SID Venture Partners
- Kateryna Dehtyar — Vacuum Deep Tech Acceleration Program Director
- Roman Cherepakha — Investment Director at Horizon Capital
- Nataliia Petrova — CEO at StrategEast
- Mykhailo Khaletskyi — Founder of Polish-Ukrainian Startup Bridge
The atmosphere was vibrant, not just with competition but also with the incredible energy of Ukraine’s startup community, which gathered to support innovation, talent, and the drive to succeed. The finalists had the chance to connect with potential investors, share their visions, and receive valuable feedback from the jury.
Representing Ukraine on the global stage
Our national winner, Spendbase.co, took their pitch to the Grand Final in San Francisco. Their platform, which optimizes SaaS, Cloud, and Corporate card spending, made a powerful impression, proving that Ukrainian startups have what it takes to compete on a global level. Despite the challenges, they proudly represented Ukraine among 70+ finalists from all over the world.
Daria Yaniieva, Investment Director at Sigma Software Labs, commented, “At Sigma Software Labs, we see great potential in developing a community of product companies around us. That’s why, for eight years in a row, we have been the main drivers of the all-Ukrainian startup competition, which in 2023 transformed into the UNICORN program, providing a great start for young tech teams through mentorship and grant support. Through our corporate venture Sigma Software Labs, we do not just invest in early-stage ideas — we integrate them into the technological solutions that Sigma Software provides to clients worldwide. Creating a unique synergy between products and services allows us to significantly reduce time-to-market, optimize budgets for MVP development, and deliver innovative solutions to our clients that exceed expectations. We believe that supporting startups and integrating them into our processes is the key to creating a future where innovation is the key to success.”
UNICORN it’s just the beginning
For us, UNICORN isn’t just a contest — it’s a community. We’ve been nurturing it for years, bringing together those who are passionate about change, who aren’t afraid to dream big, take risks, and make things happen.
And this year’s results show that even in the most challenging times, the Ukrainian startup ecosystem continues to thrive, grow, and — most importantly — scale. We can’t wait to see what comes next.
Stay tuned because the UNICORN story is just getting started!
