The reason I believe Ukraine will win—and how you can support our startups
by Tanya Chaikovska, LIFT99 Kyiv Hub
Over the last few weeks, we've been receiving an overwhelming number of messages from our European and American friends. Everyone is asking the same question: Where is the war going, and what are we preparing to do next?
While we can’t tell the future, we can see firsthand that Ukrainian founders are onto something: they are building the next generation of billion-dollar companies in defense, healthcare, robotics, and AI. Due to war, Ukraine has become the place where bold ideas match necessity, and where the future of tech is being written.
Three days of war turned into three years, and in that time, we’ve come to share three lessons we learned the most painful way: Community, Technology, and Optimism.
Let me take you through them.
1. Community
Survival is a teamwork, and right community multiplies your powers.
When the bombings first began in Kyiv, like many other organizations, we started with the basics—a Slack channel. It was an act of pure necessity. A way to stay connected and get things done when everything around us seemed to be crumbling.
At the time, LIFT99 Kyiv Hub was home to the European headquarters of NEAR Protocol, ZkSync, Unstoppable Domains, and several other key tech players. But once war hit, we quickly realized that the strength of our community—founders, operators, and investors—was more critical than ever.
The strength in question, is a-beyond-human-ability to get things done and act in crisis. We were sharing cars, homes, bank accounts, evacuating each others relatives, funding media, arranging funerals…Let me put this in perspective: Just three days before, we were living the best lives, oblivious to what was coming. Now, our small team of five was managing 17 separate projects at once. It was madness, but the kind of chaos we were equipped to handle.
What began as a scrappy Slack channel rapidly evolved into a lifeline. The channel filled up with unicorn founders eager to help, from offering financial support to providing resources and mentoring. We couldn’t afford to wait. Action had to be taken, immediately. And so, in those first chaotic days, we launched HELP99, a platform designed to connect tech leaders with Ukraine’s most urgent needs.
Today, HELP99 has grown into one of the largest NGOs focused on supporting Ukraine’s war efforts. It’s powered by people from the tech world—founders, engineers, and investors who have saved lives, helped reclaim territories, and ensured European sovereignty. We can’t name everyone who helped, but companies like Veriff, Pexels, Pipedrive, and Woola have been pivotal.
Our support didn’t stop at donations. Over 1,400 Ukrainian founders received coaching through our Coaches for Ukraine program, co-created and run by our forever Head Coach, Ariane de Bonvoisin. The program emerged out of one lucky email intro by incredible Sophia Bendz of Cherry Ventures.
In the past three years, more than 20 unicorn companies and VCs visited Kyiv in person, conducting pitch days in bomb shelters, holding mentoring sessions amid air raids, and standing by our side through it all. Special thanks to Christian Buchenau of SquareOne and Gero Decker of Signavio for providing us with….an electicity generator, which, during the worst of the bombings, allowed us to get 10-12 hours of electricity per day.
NB: We did NOT know most of these people before the war, but the startup community in Europe is far more powerful than we ever imagined.
2. Technology
You Can’t Ignore the Power of Technology in War
When the war began, the math didn’t add up. The West was caught off guard. Germany sent helmets, and that was the extent of the support. But Ukraine? We built an entirely new industry from the ground up.
In just a few years, Ukraine has become home to more than 800 defense tech companies. These companies have produced everything from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and missiles to VR/AR training simulators, anti-drone sensors, and electronic warfare systems. What’s even more impressive is the everyday innovation—born out of necessity. A second-hand Android phone, for example, became the first distributed acoustic air defense sensor.
This approach, known as the Minimum Volunteering Product (MVP), is all about doing what you can with what you’ve got - people on the battlefield care only about pure functionality. You don’t wait for perfect conditions. You innovate with what’s available. The demand was urgent, and the supply was fueled by private donations from across the globe. Prototypes were tested, feedback was gathered, and improvements were made in record time.
Today, the Ukrainian army is conducting fully unmanned robotic assault operations. These aren’t technologies that will be used in the future—they’re here now, and they’re saving lives.
Scaling these innovations is another hurdle. Selling to governments takes time and approval, and funding remains scarce. This is why LIFT99 co-founder Ragnar Sass launched Dark Star Camp, a bootcamp dedicated to investing in single-use defense tech solutions. It’s a new approach to investing in democracy, and it’s working.
3. Optimism
Optimism is the Secret Sauce for Long-Term Games
The war has left deep scars, but one thing has remained constant: Optimism. It’s not about believing the war will end tomorrow. It’s about believing in yourself, and knowing that you can do unimaginable things, and that somehow, they always work out.
The Russian invasion has killed the largest number of civilians since World War II. Yet, in cities like Kyiv and Lviv, you’ll see people with prosthetic limbs, fully integrated into society. Ukrainian startups are moving at unmatched speed to ensure that injuries don’t stop people from living full lives. One such company EsperBionics, which has developed AI-powered prosthetic limbs that respond intuitively to muscle signals, giving individuals more independence. More than 30 of them, after receiving their prosthetics, have returned to the frontlines — fighting, protecting, and proving that resilience isn’t just about adapting, but about pushing forward, no matter what.
We’ve seen Ukrainian founders raise capital from trenches, conduct meetings in bomb shelters, work from occupied cities, and evacuate their teams to safety, all while continuing to innovate and push forward. The resilience here is unmatched.
There’s a new wave of true role models for the youth. Across the country, schools and unis are integrating hands-on learning in robotics, electronics, and drone technology. Kids now have access to 3D printers to design and build their own solutions. We’ve hosted hardware workshops with schools and unis, and the results have been extraordinary.
If technology is a key, than it definitely unlocks next levels of creativity. Behind Blue Eyes, another project we support, provides film cameras to children on the frontlines, giving them a chance to capture their world and show everyone their perspective.
At LIFT99, we’ve set a big goal for the year ahead: providing opportunities to the next generation of Ukrainian founders. The things that everyone fears, happen to them on a daily basis, for three years now. Yet, these young people turn them into real problems to solve, with unmatched resilience and an unbelievable work endurance.
Community. Technology. Optimism. We are living in the epicenter of the demand and we are building out of it. This is why we believe: the next generation of billion-dollar companies will likely come from Ukraine—companies in hardware, robotics, health tech, and AI. Because we know the true price of it.
And what’s next? Lots of work. We are united as never, and we know what to do.
But, What Can You Do?
First, don’t trust all the news. Second, if you are in a startup sector - give opportunities to the Ukrainian startup ecosystem:
Join and Support Startup Awards: This year, the theme of the ceremony is Ukraine wins = Europe wins. This is why we are bringing Ukrainian founders from all over the world to Berlin, and inviting European founders, VCs, and ecosystem player to join the Grand Gala.
Conduct Office Hours: Sign up to mentor, offer feedback, or share your expertise with Ukrainian founders. Every month, we are organizing online and offline office hours sessions with international unicorn founders and VCs.
Join us on Kyiv Convoys: Take a drive from Tallinn to Kyiv, among other founders, VCs and freedom supporters. In Kyiv, you will not only have a chance to speak directly with Ukrainian warriors, but also meet the founders, and see firsthand the remarkable work being done on the ground. If you can’t do convoy schedule, but still want to visit Kyiv, contact me and I am always happy to organize your travel.
P.S. Due to confidentiality and security policies, we are not disclosing the names of participants, contributors, donators, hosts, etc that have not been mentioned publicly before. We are FOREVER GRATEFUL to all of them for all the help and support we’ve received and continue to receive. And we really want to give back.