1991 Ventures in London joins the growing list of venture capital funds targeting Ukrainian startups

UK based limited partners Fenrix And Samos Investments This week they are backing the launch of a new venture capital aimed primarily at investing in Ukrainian-led startups inside and outside the war-torn country. The LPs are known for being among the first institutional investors in successful early-stage startup funds such as Seedcamp and Entrepreneur First.

1991 projects It is the brainchild of Ukrainian brothers Denis and Viktor Gorsky, who are known for running incubation and acceleration programs within Ukraine.

The UK-based VC firm will launch with a £15 million ($18.8 million) fund to invest in emerging talent in Ukraine and Central Eastern Europe (CEE).

Although some might say investing in Ukrainian startups when the country is in the fight of its life against a brutal invasion by Russia, as we recently covered, two years after the invasion, it’s clear that Ukrainian-born startups are still doing well.

The Gorsky brothers have previously backed more than 200 startups between 2016 and 2024, through their incubator Social Boost and their partners. 1991 Accelerator.

Many of these were outside their hometown of Mariupol, which then became famous Heroic battle Against Russia and from where her team was able to move to a safe place. Startups backed so far include legal tech startup AXDRAFT, European payment app eTolls, and cybersecurity company Osavul.

During an interview, Denis Gorsky, co-founder of 1991 Ventures, told me: “There is a wealth of untapped talent in Ukraine and Central and Eastern Europe… My brother Viktor and I want to create a high-quality deal flow pipeline for that.” “.

The fund’s LP backers are “very interested in tapping into Eastern Europe and Ukraine specifically,” he said.

Gorsky also said: “It is very difficult for Ukrainian founders to benefit from London. So we would like to provide them with seed or seed funding so that they can access larger rounds in the future and understand how the UK can be a springboard for global funding.”

But 1991 Venture won’t be the only Ukrainian-born fund vying for the attention of its fellow founders.

There is also a Ukrainian VC fund Roche projectswhich previously supported Reface AI, a face-swapping app with over 250 million downloads, and Deal, a payroll solution that enables companies to pay people in over 150 countries.

in addition to, SID Project Partners It was launched by the co-founders of outsourcing companies Sigma Software and IdeaSoft and producer Datrics.

SMRK – which was launched in 2013 by MacPaw founder Oleksandr Kosovan and Andrey Dovzhenko – has invested in Osaful, Deuce Robotics, Aspechi, and Bringi.

And then there Flyer One Ventureswhich has supported Vochi, Allset, and PromoRepublic, among others.

finally, TA projects Perhaps the most famous and internationally active Ukrainian VC firm, headed by the almost ubiquitous company Victoria Tigipko.

It has invested in more than 200 startups, including 15 Ukrainian companies, and has carried out 42 exits, according to Crunchbase.

Of course, many of the technologies that Ukraine will produce in the coming years are likely to be either dual-use or defense-related. For example, nearly 200 companies produced drones in Ukraine last year. Up from seven in 2022.