Ukrainian ICT-sector today is the most dynamically developing industry and a segment of our economy which already for five previous years increases annually for 30 %. The domestic ICT-market generates 10 % of gross national product of Ukraine, and the annual export of production from it stably increases for 50 - 60 %.
If in 2003 during the first “road-show” which we held in “Silicone valley” actually nothing was known about Ukraine there, so today, within the limits of conference “Open doors to Silicone valley” (www.svod.org) annually presentations of the Ukrainian projects which are the most interesting to the American investors are held. Thus at last conference held here in November, 2006 at once 6 young companies had made huge furor among local venture capitalists, having presented them the investment projects based exclusively on domestic technologies.
Thus, huge opportunities for development of venture business open for us and, that is even more important, not only attraction into Ukraine external investments, but also a conclusion of our projects to the global markets through the markets of other more developed countries, such as the USA.
Certainly, any potential investor will become interested whether there are in Ukraine “success stories” for realization of highly technological projects. Such stories exist already for a long time. Some “business-angels” invest there which meanwhile can enclose into new projects rather not great money but to help with the choice of optimum business-model of “know-how” commercialization with preliminary market examination of the project and drawing up a business-plan.
One of such projects can be confidently named the company “Unitrade” which I, being since 1994 a “business-angel” and venture investor, have successfully leaded to the domestic market. And already today transaction of “Unitrade” together with other companies entering the holding “Aventures group” (www.aventures.biz) exceeds 1 billion dollars. The project was created from zero - at that time when the similar companies in Ukraine in general were absent.
One more “succeed story” can be confidently named “Ukrainian Software Consortium”. (www.ukrsoft.biz). These software development companies invested by us entered the “Silicone Valley” market and rather productively work there till now. In 2006 USC & Techinvest (www.techinvest.com.ua) were successfully sold to American investors.
These are not single examples when investments into Ukraine quite proved themselves and local venture capitalists carried out their "output" from earlier invested projects with profit. In my opinion at the given stage of development our country will be interesting for both internal and external investors in such spheres as telecommunication and IT which market experiences real boom in Ukraine.
Today in sphere of high technologies of Ukraine plenty of interesting investment projects are realized. Our scientists constantly generate fresh ideas and advanced “know-how”. The number of the patents given out in Ukraine already has already exceeded 2 million. To the point, about all this and many other things you always can learn more detailed from the pages of national Internet-portal of investments and innovations – “Innopolis”. (www.Innopolis.info).
Many known corporations of the world level more often open at us their branches or representations. For example, Hewlett-Packard has placed here assemblage of personal computers capacities. In fact Ukraine is attractive because of adjoin EU and it enables direct output to their market of this or that highly technological production made here.
One of the most perspective areas of our IT-industry is development of software. Many my partners in “Silicon valley”, natives of the former USSR, and some of them already open in Ukraine their software divisions. All of them are attracted by high professionalism of programmers and rather not greater expenses for payment here. And we really have with what to increase investors’ interest in fact according to the international statistics Ukraine has more than 30 thousands certificated programmers. About high potential of our experts and Ukraine as a whole also shows that fact that, as known, the founders of such companies as Google, PayPal and tens others less recognized but successful brands in the global markets have Ukrainian roots. Ukrainian community of venture investors and “business-angels” is always opened for dialogue and cooperation with foreign partners within the limits of joint realization of investment projects as it will allow to be repeatedly capitalized on fast-growing potential of Ukraine and successfully integrate our country into the global markets.
