The LPs are more well-known for having been among the first institutional investors in Seedcamp and Entrepreneur First, two prosperous early-stage startup funds.

Denis and Viktor Gursky, brothers from Ukraine, founded 1991 Ventures. They are most recognized for operating incubation and accelerator programs within their own country.

The UK-based venture capital firm is starting with a £15 million ($18.8 million) fund to support startup talent in both Ukraine and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

Even though some may think it's foolish to invest in Ukrainian startups at a time when the nation is fighting a bloody invasion by Russia, as we recently reported, two years after the invasion, successful businesses founded in Ukraine are still operating.

Previously, the Gursky brothers funded over 200 entrepreneurs through its 1991 Accelerator and incubator Social Boost between 2016 and 2024.

Many of them had left their hometown of Mariupol, which gained notoriety during its valiant fight against Russia and from which its squad was able to flee to safety. To date, eTolls, a European toll payment software, AXDRAFT, a legal tech business, and Osavul, a cybersecurity company, have all received backing.

Denis Gursky, the founding partner of 1991 Ventures, told me during an interview that there is a lot of undeveloped talent in Central and Eastern Europe and Ukraine. Viktor, my brother, and I aim to build a pipeline of excellent dealflow to that.

He stated that the fund's LP backers "are very interested to tap into Eastern European and specifically Ukrainian."

Gursky added, "Ukrainian founders find it extremely difficult to access London." Therefore, we would like to give them seed or pre-seed money so they can later on access larger rounds and see how the UK may serve as a launching pad for international finance.

However, 1991 Venture is not the only fund with Ukrainian origins vying for the founders' interest.

Moreover, there is the Ukrainian venture capital firm Roosh Ventures, which has supported Reface AI—a face-swapping software with over 250 million downloads—and Deel—a payroll service that helps businesses pay employees across more than 150 nations.

Furthermore, the co-founders of the Datrics product, IdeaSoft, and Sigma Software outsourcing companies founded SID Venture Partners.

Oleksandr Kosovan, the founder of MacPaw, and Andrii Dovzhenko founded SMRK in 2013. Since then, the company has made investments in Osavul, Deus Robotics, Aspichi, and Prengi.

Then there is Flyer One Ventures, which has supported a number of companies like Allset, PromoRepublic, and Vochi.

And lastly, TA Ventures, led by the nearly ubiquitous Viktoriya Tigipko, is arguably the most well-known and active Ukrainian venture capital firm abroad.

Crunchbase reports that it has made 42 exits and invested in over 200 startups, including 15 in Ukraine.