Марія Бровінська Startup 20 May 2026, 14:25

Ukraine — 43rd in StartupBlink 2026: lost one place in a year, but holds 25% of Eastern Europe's unicorns and third place in web development

According to the results of a new StartupBlink report, Ukraine ranked 43rd in the global ranking of countries for startups — one position lower than last year.

The annual growth rate of the ecosystem was 7,7% — significantly less than 26,2% in 2025. In Eastern Europe, Ukraine is in 8th place, in Europe as a whole — 26th position for the second year in a row. Kyiv took 74th place among the cities where it is most convenient to develop startups — minus 6 positions for the year.

Where Ukraine is above its overall position

The most interesting thing about the report is not the overall position, but the industry results, which significantly exceed Ukraine’s eighth place in Eastern Europe as a whole. Web development: third place in the region. Blockchain: 5th place. Ecosystem Brand Value — also fifth: the international brand recognition of the Ukrainian startup environment is much stronger than the overall position.

Four Ukrainian unicorns make up 25% of all unicorns in Eastern Europe. In total, there are 874 startups in the ecosystem, about 6% of the entire regional market.

The report highlights two systemic constraints separately. The first is the business environment: Ukraine ranks only 67th in the Innovator Conditions Index, which is holding back growth. The second is over-centralization: Kyiv’s score is more than 10 times higher than Lviv’s. The development of regional hubs is a key structural challenge that the report highlights separately.

Around Ukraine are the Russian Federation and Romania. Behind Ukraine are Latvia (48) and Hungary (53). The leaders of Eastern Europe are as follows: Estonia — 12th in the world, Lithuania — 22nd, Czech Republic — 32nd, Poland — 33rd, Bulgaria — 40th.