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Cyber/nnov8: A New Era in Ukraine’s Cybersecurity Startups Development

The ISSP Group alongside the Ukrainian Startup Fund in partnership with Cisco, IBM Security, PwC Ukraine, and Amazon Web Services, has officially presented the startup studio Cyber/nnov8: building cybertech of tomorrow.

Cyber/nnov8 seeks to combine the efforts of businesses, entrepreneurs, and international technology partners to develop Ukraine’s cybersecurity startup ecosystem.

What are the key objectives of Cyber/nnov8?


First, it is to support promising cybersecurity startups and entrepreneurs and to facilitate the creation of quality products and services.

Second, it is to help business and the government sector to effectively and efficiently overcome challenges associated with cybersecurity and to expedite their secure digital transformation.

“Cybersecurity is precisely the niche Ukrainian professionals have a competitive advantage in because they have traditionally been the first responders to the world’s gravest and most devastating cyber attacks.

As part of Cyber/nnov8, we will be developing Ukrainian startups and are going to engage businesses, corporations, and the government sector. Having had a closer look at the needs of the business and government, we’ll be supporting the startups that will offer quality and effective solutions to cybersecurity challenges,” Sviatoslav Sviatnenko, Chief Innovational Officer at ISSP and Co-Founder of Cyber/nnov8 is sharing his vision.


What are the opportunities that Cyber/nnov8 will offer to entrepreneurs and startups?

  • Grants and investments of up to $150,000 for business development

  • Partnership services totaling $100,000 and more, including cloud and computing services

  • Access to over 200 venture funds and investors with a focus on cybersecurity

  • Technical and business expertise from mentors, industry professionals, and managers

  • Participation in Cyber/nnov8 Demo Days and pitching of solutions to investors and customers

  • Participation in cybersecurity industry conferences as part of a Ukrainian delegation

Most importantly, Cyber/nnov8 offers the leading players of the cybersecurity market a unique collaboration and partnership platform to collectively create opportunities and conditions for a rapid growth of an innovative cybersecurity ecosystem in Ukraine.

According to Oleh Derevianko, Founder and Chairman of ISSP and Co-Founder of Cyber/nnov8, Ukraine, considering its top-notch IT professionals and access to the unique cybersecurity knowledge, has to be perceived as a place where promising cybersecurity product startups could originate from.


“Our eyes are on Israel which is the world’s number one in the cybersecurity industry owing to its mature ecosystem and expertise. In 2020, this tiny country attracted some $2.9 billion in investments. This is roughly 30 per cent of all global investment in the sector. Having received funding, Israeli startups often turn to Ukrainian software developers. That approach has to change. Cyber can and ought to become one of the Ukrainian startup community’s areas of expertise. That is exactly why ISSP has come forward with the initiative to create Cyber/nnov8,” says Oleh Derevianko.


It is absolutely necessary that businesses step up their initiatives aimed at developing startups in a particular industry or sector, insists Ihor Markevych, Innovations Advisor to Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine and Founder of Home of Start-ups.

“That is great that the Cyber/innov8 initiative emerged with an eye toward developing the cybersecurity sector. Ukraine has visionaries capable of launching great startups. We only need to create the conducive conditions,” says Ihor Markevych.

Roman Sologub, CEO of ISSP and Co-Founder of Cyber/nnov8 believes that the fact that the leading cybersecurity market players, among them service companies, vendors, and large businesses, have united so quickly and created such opportunities with the Cyber/nnov8 platform is exemplary. “It is only by joining the efforts that we make a quality change in the entire cybersecurity ecosystem,” assures Roman Sologub.

Not only is the cybersecurity sector promising, it proves to be highly financially rewording, too. “Cybersecurity is not a product, it’s a process. We can see its huge potential as a business,” assures Dmytro Vartanian, Co-Founder of Sigma Software and one of the co-founders of SID Venture Partners Fund which will just as well be supporting Ukrainian cyber startups.


The cybersecurity market in Ukraine is bound to grow exponentially, the leading market players keep telling. “The reason cannot be clearer – the more digitals services are being offered, the more business are getting digital, the more vulnerable they become in terms of cybersecurity,” CEO of CISCO Ukraine Serhiy Martynchuk explains.

“Being a multinational business, CISCO can help Ukrainian startups assess their competitive posture as part of the Cyber/nnov8. In addition, with the help of Cisco Talos, a separate subdivision that analyses cyber crimes, we are ready to share our expertise in investigating cyber attacks,” Serhiy Martynchuk explains.

Manager of a subdivision of IBM Security in Ukraine Andriy Kuzmenko is echoing the message. “Why are we ready to support the development of startups? It’s because we are looking forward to our future collaboration which will boost the company’s technical expertise. Startups make us more ‘flexible’. Hopefully, together with Cyber/nnov8 we’ll be able to find promising teams that are ready to launch innovative services,” says Andriy Kuzmenko.



That is one the Cyber/nnov8’s distinctive features as it will in fact work under two models.

The first one, the Booster model, will be helping existing startups get to the next level, and will further develop their products and services.

The second one, the Builder model, will be working with entrepreneurs to build startups together with them.

So don’t stay away. We are looking for partners, mentors, experts, researchers, and – of course – entrepreneurs and startups.

For more information, please contact us at cyberinnov8.com or ssviatnenko@issp.com.


/nnov8 with us!

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