AVentures Capital

Kyiv and San Francisco are the two bases for AVentures Capital, a fund aimed at Ukrainian entrepreneurs who bring original ideas, an international outlook and strong delivery. The team splits its time between the two cities and invests in companies that aim to disrupt global markets while taking advantage of research and development teams based in Ukraine. Besides funding early-stage startups, it advises IT businesses at every stage, and other funds, on strategy and execution.

Two founders with operating backgrounds

The fund was started by a former investment banker and a serial entrepreneur. Both have sat on company boards, and both have worked to strengthen the entrepreneurial community in Ukraine, including the creation of a national venture capital and private equity association in 2014. The fund says that being entrepreneurs themselves lets them take a hands-on approach and commit to building successful businesses out of Ukraine.

Software across many areas

The stated investment focus is software technology, with machine learning, big data, augmented and virtual reality, software as a service, cloud, storage, enterprise, web, mobile and the internet of things all named. The website that carries this material is unofficial: portfolio founders built it as a tribute to the fund, and the company descriptions on it reflect that portfolio.

Companies in the portfolio

The descriptions show a broad spread. Depositphotos is a microstock agency, founded in 2009 and headquartered in New York, where authors sell licensed photos, vectors and videos to buyers in more than 190 countries. Spinbackup provides cloud-to-cloud backup and cybersecurity for Google Apps, using machine learning to automate protection of corporate data and to alert administrators to possible breaches. Rallyware offers software for coaching, training and motivating employees through personalized engagement programs, and counts large international companies among its customers. Petcube makes connected pet cameras sold in 18 countries and in over 2,500 retail locations. Ciklum is described as a top-five global digital solutions company working for large enterprises and fast-growing organizations alike.

Other portfolio companies include Augmented Pixels, which has proprietary mapping technology for robots and drones; CheckIO, an educational game and competition platform where developers improve their skills; Coppertino, the maker of the VOX music player and the cloud storage service Loop; and an online TV and video-on-demand service for people from post-Soviet countries now living around the world. Further entries cover a marketplace helping patients receive treatment at hospitals abroad, an account-based advertising platform for business-to-business marketers, software for visualizing IoT networks, and smart blinds that follow the sun and generate electricity.

AVentures Capital is a venture fund that invests in early-stage startups led by Ukrainian entrepreneurs. It also advises IT businesses at all stages, and other funds, on strategy and execution.

The team splits its time between Kyiv and San Francisco. It uses Ukraine-based research and development teams as an advantage in global competition. The website reviewed here is unofficial: portfolio founders at Petcube built it as a tribute.

What AVentures Capital offers

• Early-stage investment: funding for startups.
• Advisory work: strategy and execution advice for IT companies and other funds.
• Hands-on partnership: support from founders who have run companies themselves.

Who it works with

Ukrainian entrepreneurs building software technology, including machine learning, big data, AR and VR, SaaS, cloud, storage, enterprise, web, mobile and internet of things products.

Key facts

• Offices: Kyiv and San Francisco
• Co-founders: Andrey Kolodyuk and Yevgen Sysoyev
• Focus: software technology