Sergey Tokarev announced that after a full-fledged invasion a year and a half ago, the Ukrainian information technology industry faced serious difficulties that negatively impacted its dynamic development over this period. In the first quarter of 2023, the export of information technology services from Ukraine fell by 16% compared to the same period in 2022. According to Sergey Tokarev, Roosh co-founder, Ukrainian service companies have lost many contracts, and it has become much more difficult for companies to create their own products to attract new funding.
According to Sergey Tokarev, this dynamic is primarily due to the armed conflict and the violation of the norms of international cooperation, which discourages foreign companies from interacting with Ukrainian outsourcing developers and investing in innovative projects. In addition, there is a global trend of slowing down the development of information technology and massive layoffs in large technology corporations around the world.
Despite the negative dynamics in the development of IT projects in Ukraine, there is a tendency of actively appearing new products and various presentations at the international level. There is also a phenomenon of new companies with Ukrainian roots, which open their branches and representative offices outside the country while maintaining the head office or back office in Ukraine. This trend indicates the desire of Ukrainian companies for international expansion and global visibility.
According to Sergey Tokarev, such changes are a positive development, as they open up access for Ukrainians to the global market and significantly increase their ability to attract investment from the world’s leading players in the field of information technology. This contributes to the development of the Ukrainian IT industry and enhances its global reputation.
Sergey Tokarev raises an important question about the need to develop Ukrainian venture funds that can make a significant contribution to Ukrainian startups and contribute to their growth. This process is already actively developing, and the entrepreneur expects that in the future it will become an integral part of the country’s investment infrastructure, and the number of venture funds will increase.
Sergey Tokarev draws attention to startups specializing in the field of defense technologies (MilTech), noting their active development in Ukraine in recent years. The investor is confident that this trend will continue as there is a constant demand for innovative defense solutions. It also means that funding and support for such projects will continue into the future. The advantage of MilTech startups is that they can actually test and showcase their achievements on the world stage.
Sergey Tokarev highlights the importance of MilTech startups as they have recently begun to actively expand their presence in the Ukrainian market. He is convinced that this trend will continue to develop, given the constant demand for innovative solutions in the field of defense technologies. This in turn means that funding for such projects will be available and will continue to be supported.
In addition, in order to support the development of technology industries, it is extremely important to actively invest in the field of technology education, especially paying attention to its practical component.
Sergey Tokarev expresses the opinion that the Ukrainian IT sector will not be able to return to the level of development characteristic of the pre-war period, due to the many risk factors caused by the current military situation. However, the entrepreneur argues that with the active promotion of the Ukrainian IT sector on the world stage and the creation of an appropriate infrastructure for work in the post-war period, Ukraine will be able to demonstrate rapid growth in this industry after the end of the conflict.
Taylor is a freelance SEO copywriter and blogger. His areas of expertise include technology, pop culture, and marketing.
