Sitting Down with Ukraine’s Startup Leaders: Stories From the Frontlines of the Country’s Innovation Ecosystem
Ukraine’s startup and innovation ecosystem is brimming with highly skilled talent, entrepreneurship ingenuity and immensely creative, motivated leaders. Prior to Russia’s illegal invasion, the country was experiencing exciting momentum, and was on pace to become one of Europe’s fastest-growing tech hubs. One year into a war that continues to inflict tragedy and destruction across the country, the tremendous resolve, tenacity and pride that form a cornerstone of Ukraine’s culture of innovation is strong and enduring.
On May 16, it is our honor to welcome four startup leaders and champions for commercializing transformative technologies in Ukraine for “Ukrainian Startup Day.” In this 60-minute virtual global event, hear directly from startup founders and ecosystem builders about how the war has impacted their work, their startups’ operations, and their forward-looking focus and priorities as leaders and founders, as well as how the global life sciences community can help right now and in the months and years ahead.
Program Details:
Fireside Chat: Featuring Ihor Markevych, Head of Strategy and Development at Ukrainian Startup Fund, startup ecosystem leader, mentor, speaker and sought-after thought leader on the Ukrainian tech sector. Interviewed by Ivan Liachko, founder and CEO of Phase Genomics and event organizer, with questions from virtual attendees.
Founder’s Roundtable: Moderated by journalist Flora Tsapovsky (The Information, WIRED, Yahoo, Genetic Literacy Project, San Francisco Chronicle), the interactive panel discussion will include:
- Denys Gurak, CEO and Co-Founder at A.D.A.M., a 3D bioprinting company. Denys is also an investor, thought leader and frequent speaker on economic and foreign relations issues for Ukraine.
- Kirill Goncharuk, CEO and Founder of CheckEye, an ML/AI cloud-based solution for the detection of diabetic retinopathy. Kirill is also a senior IT professional and board member for the Ukraine Diabetes Foundation.
- Dariya Paramonova, CEO and Founder of MyHelix, a genetic testing company. Dariya is a geneticist, molecular biologist, TEDx speaker and a global science and healthcare advocate. In 2018, she was named a Ukrainian “30 Under 30” by Kyiv Post.
This event is a special production of the Genome Startup Day Initiative, a community-building catalyst to support innovation and entrepreneurship and bridge the gap between academia and biotech commercialization. Genome Startup Day is organized by Ivan Liachko, a Ukrainian-born biotech entrepreneur and founder of Phase Genomics in Seattle, WA.