Welcome to Odesa: Odesa is the third most populous city of Ukraine and a major tourism centre, seaport and transport hub located on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. Explore and tap into one of the fastest-growing startup hubs in Ukraine, Odesa!
About this city
The IT sector plays an important role in Odesa’s economy.
There are more than 150 IT companies in the city. In 2015, the number of IT specialists surpassed 6,000 people, according to DOU, and in 2018 it reached 10,000 professionals. The city’s strong educational system ensures a constant inflow of new talent into the sector.
The range of industries the local companies are working in is really quite impressive. A few massive companies are developing projects in the automotive industry and banking. Other slightly smaller companies focus on enterprise solutions, mobile apps development, big data projects, gambling, travelling, healthcare, UI/UX design, and so on. Software product IT companies are focused on cybersecurity, telecommunications, AR solutions, and diverse mobile applications. Odesa is also known for a few internet marketing studios, like Netpeak and Adtelligent (ex. VertaMedia). Within Ukraine, there is a popular opinion of Odesa being the most welcoming city for IT startups.
In addition, Odesa is the home to famous tech product companies such as Readdle, KeepSolid, Augmented Pixels, adtelligent, Clickky, Kwambio, as well as prominent startups such as Looksery, which was bought by Snapchat. Furthermore, an office of Snapchat is now also incorporated in Odesa as well as one office of Oracle, which has started to work with the Odesa-based company Opower in 2016. It could happen that your company will be the next one to rent an office near the Black Sea shore and start innovating together with Odesa’s talents.
So perhaps your company will be the next one to rent an office near the Black Sea shore and start innovating together with Odesa’s talents.
Tap into Odesa Tech ecosystem!
News
Here selected links to dive into the Odesa startup ecosystem: Startup Odessa, AIN, MC Today, NA Chasi, KYIV post, Business Ukraine, DOU,Vector media.
Odesa Startup Guide
2018
Useful information
Data Centers in Odesa: Hosting.UA, UNIT-IS
Top E-commerce Developers in Odesa here
Top Software Developers in Odesa here
Cloud IT service providers – consulting: ergos, Synebo, Syntech Software , PDL
The Research Laboratory of Mechatronics and Robotics MiRONAFT
Coworking spaces and Hubs
In Odesa, all the IT venues, business centers, and coworking spaces are strategically located around the city center – a 15-min walking distance from one another.
Communities
Odesa and Ukraine are known for their vibrant tech community and sometimes seen as an entrepreneurial paradise.
Connect with communities and hang out with local tech gurus:
- Startup Odessa-Kambala Community
- Indie Game Developers Odessa
- Product Tank Odessa
- Silicon Drinkabout Odessa
Incubators:
Business Incubator Group Ukraine
Crowd Investing Platforms:
Moy Gorod
Regular Events & Meetups:
- Odessa Maker Fair
- Nasa Space Challenge Odessa
- OdessaJS
- Microsoft.net Meetups
- Lohika Tech Talks
- IT-Talks
- Provectus
- IT School
- Business4Teens
- CodeClub
Major Events, Festivals, Conferences:
For many years in a row, Odesa has been living up to its reputation as a major epicenter for entrepreneurial & cultural gatherings:
- #ITNonStop
- Ideas Festival /Aspen Institute and Impact Hub Odessa
- Eastern European Computer Vision Conference
- 5T Investment Days
- 8P conference
- ITTW
- International Film Festival and Digital Day
- International Book Fair Green Wave Fair
More Tech community activities check at Meetup.com, Techevents, Eventbrite, Ticketforevent, 2event, Tickerry, Study Dive, AIN, DOU.
Odesa is one of Ukraine’s “big five” when it comes to IT talent and business opportunities. However, Odesa has a lot more to offer than just its IT talent.
Advantages Of Building A Startup In Odesa:
- Entrepreneurial spirit, non-discriminative and conducive startup environment.
- Tech talent abundance – boasting 11 Institutes, 2 Faculties, 64 Departments Odesa National Polytechnic University is annually producing over 1000 graduates. ONPU alumni’s fitness for serving the IT industry is attested in numerous International Collegiate Contests and Student Olympiads.
- Private and non-formal IT learning opportunities for any ages – through enrolling in the Odessa IT-Step Academy, Hillel IT-School you may equip yourself with all essential workplace (and startup) skills.
- International IT-Hub via 150+ R&D companies
- Qualified tech mentors available
- Low-cost rate, cheap living costs
- Relaxed rental market
- Shopping malls, continually expanding the community of designers, access to various inexpensive, eco-friendly locally crafted products – from clothes and perfumes to furniture.
- New/renovated office spaces and coworking areas near the city center
- Simplified procedures for paying Internet bills and making account refills – you may use an e-payment cabinet or look for the nearest street terminal.
- A wide range of opportunities for any new business.
- A city with freelance and outsourcing opportunities
- The startup registration procedure is no different from registering an ordinary business
- Airport, sea-port, international railways and inter-city bus station near the city centre – everything is reachable in around 30-40 min driving during rush hours – at max.
- Good connection to Kyiv (hourly budget flights (1 hour), comfortable buses (5 hours), fast trains and night trains)
- Family-friendly city – Mamafest, Yard Food Fair “Tsimes” (Цимес), organized family weekends, Museum of Interesting Science for kids, summer book reading in the City Garden, contact zoo.
- Sports-friendly city – healthy living promotion, vegan and vegetarian cafes, beach and indoor yoga, annual bike riding/running marathons.
- SEA – Black Sea serves as a NATURAL ecosystem connector all year round.
- Tremendous leisure opportunities – clubbing districts, outdoor clubs, horse riding, art museums and galleries, fishing, one-day trips to wine-producing plants. Local nature wonders such as the catacombs and therapeutic salt lakes.
For more reasons as to why to invest in Odesa check in with Odesa Investment Agency here.
To open the company in Odesa, you will open an LLC in Ukraine as a subsidiary of your foreign parent company, which will then hire IT professionals either as salaried employees based on labour agreement or based on a freelance agreement (in most cases, there will be a mix of such arrangements). This option can be useful for long term projects in Ukraine when you are planning to establish an office and hire a large number of IT professionals.
Taxes
Under Ukrainian legislation, Ukrainian residents pay taxes in Ukraine on their worldwide income, whereas non-residents are subject to taxation only in respect of their Ukrainian-source income. For a full overview of the Ukrainian Tax System check Tax Guide 2019.
Odesa has always been one of the most attractive place for investments in Ukraine.
Why invest in Odesa check with Odesa Investment Agency here
Explore IT Investment Opportunities with Wannabiz.
There are Ukrainian investment funds which deal with startups:
- Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (UVCA)
- Ukrainian Startup Fund
- QPDIGITAL
- The Untitled Ventures
- UAngel Community of Ukrainian business angels
- AVentures Capital
- TA Ventures
- U.Ventures
- Western NIS Enterprise Fund
- Digital Future
- Wanna Biz
- D2N8
- Dragon Capital
- Horizon Capital
- Chernovetskyi Investment Group
- SMRK VC Fund
- Imperious Group
- TMT investments
- Almaz Capital
Check how to become an investor in Ukraine.
If you are looking for professionals or want to become an employee, check next job boards:
Education
Check next universities with IT programmes and courses:
