A doodle by a Ukrainian artist
Google is known for its doodles – unusual festive logos that appear of the search engine’s main page. So far, national-flavor styled doodles had been created by employed designers, but this year the author of the fruit garden with the elements of the Ukrainian flag was Ukrainian artist Vladyslav Yerko. This is how he explained the idea behind his drawing: “In the Independence Day doodle I wanted to portray Ukraine as a country belonging to new, fresh, free people, a country of peace and prosperity, a happy Ukraine. Children are the ones who symbolize this – those who are worth living and building a new country for.”
The first international IT conference dedicated to Ukraine
The U.T.Gem conference, dedicated to Ukrainian IT talents and achievements of the Ukrainian startup industry, will be held on September 17-18 in San Francisco with the support of the Ukrainian General Consulate. The organizers, who include business accelerator Happy Farm, the European Business Association and the biggest IT outsourcing company EPAM, count on gathering about 1000 participants including businessmen, developers, service companies, business angels, startup accelerators, venture funds, venture investors and students who specialize in technology. “Our message to the world community: the best sanctions against Russia are investments into Ukraine,” Kolodiuk explains the event’s motives.
The interactive history of Euromaidan
The Odesa-based storytelling company Gutenbergz combines stories with interactivity, thus creating “exceptional stories for the digital world.” On of their recent multimedia projects Euromaidan. The Chronicle of Feelings, was dedicated to Ukraine’s Independence Day. It is possible to familiarize oneself with the country’s new history by using a web version and a mobile iOS app.
A map of Ukrainian startups
One of the founders of Kyiv-based Hackerspace, founder of a number of startup projects, civil activists and creator of social projects Ivan Pasichnyk and founder and senior partner at the venture fund Hybrid Capital Ilya Koenigstein launched a map of Ukrainian startups in August. It is available in English and was created on the principles of crowdsourcing, meaning every business representative can leave a note about themselves independently. At the initial stage the base is formed independently and already includes 176 notes with addresses, telephone numbers and descriptions of projects. The goal is to gather all Ukrainian IT companies, business incubators, co-working spaces, creative spaces etc. in one place.
Invest in Ukraine conference series
The Invest in Ukraine conference in London which will start working on September 3, will open a series of similar events in other financial capitals of the world: Hong-Kong, Dubai and New York. For the first time since the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU was signed, the investment potential of our country will be discussed internationally. It is expected that the head of the National Bank Valeriya Hontareva and Mayor of Lviv Andriy Sadoviy will participate in a Kyiv-London conference call.
Business angel community UAngel
According to UAngel executive director Yanika Merylo, until now there has been no platform to unite businessmen and investors on the local and international level on one hand and startups on the other in Ukraine. Similar projects have been present in other countries for a long time, and now ours is no exception. Within 1,5 years UAngel counts on attracting over $1,2 million – 10 contracts of $30 thousand by the end of the current year and about 30 deals in 2015.
Venture capital association
The creation of the UVCA (Ukrainian Venture Capital Association) was reported on August 27, which is being constructed following the example of the analogous European Association. Kolodiuk and Meryla initiated the project. Dozens of funds and the Kyiv Ernst & Young office lent their support. It is expected that the new union will help fight for the rights of its participants, lobby laws for the improvement of the business climate and popularize Ukraine’s investment opportunities.
Source: Forbes Translated by Mariya Shcherbinina
