Sergey Tokarev, Roosh co-founder, and well-known investor, reported that within Web Summit 2023, Ukraine has once again confirmed its reputation as a technology leader, gathering more than 70,000 participants and establishing more than 750,000 connections. However, the real star of the event was the charity auction, which raised more than 1.5 million Ukrainian hryvnia, the equivalent of 40,000 euros, which exceeded all expectations.
According to information from Sergey Tokarev, the Ukrainian military received important support, and the country demonstrated its solidarity in difficult times. Moreover, Ukrainian IT geniuses presented their innovative developments, winning the attention of world investors and summit participants. New contacts and partnerships concluded during the event are promising steps into the future for the Ukrainian technology community.
Web Summit 2023 has become not only a technology platform, but also a forum of global solidarity, emphasizing that the world values innovation, humanity, and mutual assistance.
During Web Summit 2023, artificial intelligence became one of the central topics highlighted by Sergey Tokarev, who stated that the future impact of this technology on society will directly depend on the development of human potential. As an IT entrepreneur and co-founder of the technology company Roosh, which became the general partner of the Ukrainian delegation, Tokarev emphasized that for him artificial intelligence is not just technology but augmented intelligence, capable of collaborating with humans and making them more efficient.
The event featured multiple speakers discussing women’s leadership in technology and strategies for creating a supportive environment for women. Tara Chklowski, founder and CEO of AI entrepreneurship program for young women, Technovation, highlighted the imbalance in the industry, where 11 million men work compared to three million women. Her talk raised the important question of how to make the tech field more open and supportive of female leadership.
Ukraine on the Forum
In 2021, Ukraine presented its innovative developments for the first time at the Web Summit. The mobile application and portal Diia, as well as the virtual legal and tax space Diia.City, together with the E-Residency project, were highlighted in the Ukrainian delegation. However, this year the country again surprised the world community by presenting a whole set of 25 startups and scale-ups in areas from artificial intelligence to ecology and psychology. Among them, innovative projects of Kyiv Polytechnic Institute students stand out, such as a bionic prosthetic arm, a drone for studying water bodies, and reconnaissance drone technologies for overcoming electronic warfare. Ukrainian startup S.Lab, specializing in environmental packaging, took a place in the top 10 pitching, presenting its project on the main stage of the summit.
Conclusions of the Web Summit
The evening of November 15th became special for the Ukrainian delegation, which together with its partners met at Free People Gathering, which was not just a networking evening but a real charity auction. The event not only attracted the attention of more than 150 representatives from Germany, Portugal, Great Britain and the USA but also brought significant results that can help Ukrainian military personnel.
According to Sergey Tokarev, today Ukraine is more open than ever to international cooperation, and this is confirmed by active participation in the Web Summit, where world interests converge with Ukrainian companies and their innovative ideas. The Ukrainian delegation spoke thanks to the efforts of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Startup Fund and the Ukrainian Hub, with the support of the USAID Program “Competitive Economy of Ukraine” and the Embassy of Ukraine in Portugal.
