Outsourcing is dying – we need to become the new Israel. Officials have devised a plan for developing startups in Belarus
After 2020, Belarus’s startup ecosystem effectively fell apart, which had previously given the world several impressive projects. Officials appear to have a plan to revive it, including new draft legislation on startups and investments, with universities across the country becoming innovation centers (as this is, according to officials, global best practice). Read more about what’s happening with the startup movement in Belarus in recent years and what the Hi-Tech Park Belarus has devised in this devby article.
From the ashes: how Belarus lost its startup movement
In 2019, Alexander Lukashenko visited the Hi-Tech Park Belarus (HTP) for the last time. The politician was given a tour of an exhibition showcasing «developments by leading residents» of the park. Among them were several notable startups created in Belarus: robotics developers Rozum Robotics, creators of the lung disease detection application Healthy Networks, and agritech company OneSoil. OneSoil’s international platform for precision agriculture attracted special attention from Lukashenko.
«This is very useful and much-needed,» was his assessment of the startup.
The «useful and much-needed» OneSoil left the HTP and ceased operations in Belarus in early 2022. Since then, the startup has positioned itself as Swiss. Healthy Networks closed its legal entity in Belarus in early 2024 and is now based in Estonia.
Back then, six years ago, representatives of another well-known startup with Belarusian roots, Flo (developer of the eponymous women’s health app), were also present at the meeting with Lukashenko at the HTP. This project also left Belarus in early 2022, and later repositioned itself as a British-Lithuanian company.
Of these startups, only Rozum Robotics continues to operate in Belarus. But it, too, suffered losses. During the 2020 protests, co-owner Mikhail Chuprinsky was detained (he later left the country). Two years later, the second co-founder, Viktor Khamenok, also left Rozum Robotics.
«At best, the company is destined to become some kind of local Russian story. But most likely, even that won’t happen, as all import and export flows are closing,» he predicted about his project’s unenviable future.
After 2020 (with this process intensifying significantly after the war in Ukraine began), many technology startups shut down their businesses in Belarus. The most famous among them are PandaDoc, Wanna, Fibery, and Vochi.
Here we define startups specifically as technology product companies created in Belarus and developing primarily through external investments in their early years. Sometimes the term «startups» is understood more broadly. It can include, for example, mobile game publishers with sustainable monetization models or even large independent companies like Wargaming and EPAM.
Almost all of these companies attracted multi-million investments shortly before leaving the country (or after departure). OneSoil and Fibery received $5 million each, Wanna was bought for almost $30 million, Vochi—for several tens of millions. PandaDoc and Flo became unicorns with valuations exceeding a billion dollars after subsequent investment rounds while already in emigration.
In summer 2020, PandaDoc founders Mikita Mikado and Sergey Borisjuk initiated a private initiative to raise money for law enforcement officers who decided to change professions.
By September, searches were conducted in the company’s Minsk office. Four PandaDoc employees ended up in a detention center, accused of fraud. Later, three of them had their preventive measures changed and were released. Product manager Viktor Kuvshinov was held in captivity the longest; he was freed only in August, almost a year after his detention.
In an alternative reality, all these successful startups could have benefited the Belarusian economy. According to devby’s calculations, in 2020, taxes from PandaDoc employees alone contributed about $7 million to the country’s budget.
Afterlife: the challenging existence of private companies in Belarus
After 2020, not only did notable startups leave Belarus, but important projects around which investors and aspiring entrepreneurs once gathered also disappeared.
The authorities first closed and then declared as an extremist formation the startup hub Imaguru, which, according to investor Valery Ostrinsky, had accumulated half of all activity in Belarus’s entire startup ecosystem. A Minsk court liquidated the important social project competition Social Weekend, which was vital for the business ecosystem.
Among the few private projects still helping startups in Belarus are Zborka Labs (in 2022, its founder Boris Mamonenko was sentenced to house arrest restrictions; the «laboratory» was closed but later reopened) and the investment studio Spark Venture, organized by Alfa Bank.
Sources talking to devby name Spark Venture as one of the main places in Belarus where early-stage startups can currently find investments.
«The startup movement in Belarus is slowly reviving,» says the founder of one startup still operating in the country. «And largely thanks to Spark Venture. There you can 'hook' two or three investors that match your project’s profile. Spark Venture events have the highest concentration of investors you can find in Belarus. For comparison, my acquaintances went to a pitch at Zborka, and there were no investors there at all. And the conditions aren’t as favorable: if you 'enter' Zborka, they immediately ask for a share in your startup.»
Angel investor Kirill Voloshin notes that Zborka Labs had several interesting Belarusian startups in its portfolio (but overall, in his opinion, the 'laboratory’s' activities look like busywork.).
«Among promising startups I’ll mention, for example, Cropfleet, which develops robotic solutions for agriculture. But it’s unclear what state this project is in now. Overall, when I last reviewed Zborka’s portfolio, it looked depressing (most links to startups didn’t even open).
Trafory, Delivio, Staffflow, and Voka 3D seem alive (and focused on the CIS market). A couple more interesting medtech projects position themselves as Western but aren’t leaving the HTP. As for banking events (like SparkVenture or Igrow), I think this is more about maintaining entrepreneurial activity in the country than about venture investments. It’s not characteristic of Belarusian banks to enter a startup at an early stage, reinvest in growth, wait for an exit, and leave with a profit. Isolated cases like Belgazprombank during Babariko’s time don’t count.»
According to the investor, after 2020, «up to 80 percent of startups left Belarus, and up to 90% of promising ones.»
«There’s certainly nothing like Imaguru in Belarus anymore,» says Kirill Voloshin. «There are scattered initiatives: the HTP accelerator, a startup school at BSU. But these aren’t places for daily interaction among startup founders—rather, they’re sporadic events.»
Investor Valery Ostrinsky (who moved to Poland last year after spending 2.5 years under «home chemistry» restrictions) believes that the startup ecosystem has generally «adapted to the realities within the country.»
«I haven’t come across any government initiatives that would inspire and make me believe in some promising trend,» he says. «I’ve heard about the creation of a union of Belarusian technoparks or something along those lines. It seems the authorities have announced some bill to create a legal framework for venture funds. They say they’ll attract Russian, Arab, and Chinese investors.»
Well, good luck. After every news about billion-dollar investments in AI startups in the US, I only feel how insignificant the startup ecosystem in Belarus has become. The gap between the country and the rest of the world is only widening.
Global practices of a Pinsk University, or how the HTP devised a plan to revive startups
While private initiatives were previously the attraction points for the startup movement, in recent times it’s mainly government structures attempting to breathe life into it: the HTP, state banks, and universities.
At the beginning of this year, the HTP launched the «Accelerator»—a three-month program for early-stage startups. The park helps founders by organizing lectures and meetings with potential investors.
«In January, 20 startups were selected for the accelerator,» says an entrepreneur whose startup was among them. «These are no longer raw projects: they have ready products and even registered legal entities. The HTP itself doesn’t offer investments or grants, but kind of states: 'here we’ve selected so many startups, we guarantee they’re adequate.' That is, it works to connect entrepreneurs and investors.»
Another program for beginner businesspeople has been implemented in recent years by the state-owned Belagroprombank. It’s called «Startup Marathon». Each year, startups at different stages can participate in the competition. Five winners are selected. Two nominations—«Successful Start» and «Effective Business Startup»—receive cash prizes. Quite modest ones: in 2025, the first nominee will receive 10,500 Belarusian rubles, and the second — 21,000 rubles (the prize amounts are tied to the base value).
In 2023, the «Startup Marathon» final took place in Moscow. The best Belarusian startups were chosen by a jury consisting mainly of representatives from Russian organizations: Skolkovo, Rosselkhozbank, and others.
In May last year, the HTP created a separate structure—the Startup Center, whose task is «supporting the development of the startup movement in universities.»
«Why universities? A university is an ideal platform for starting a business: a knowledge-intensive environment, human capital, laboratory and technical infrastructure, expert community. Up to a quarter of startups in developed countries originate in universities. They are the key link in forming innovative entrepreneurial projects at initial stages,» explained Kirill Zalessky, who was then deputy director of the HTP.
Throughout 2024, Zalessky traveled around Belarus and concluded partnership agreements between the HTP and universities: BSU, Brest State Technical University, Polessky State University, Vitebsk State Technological University, Polotsk State University, Gomel State University—about ten educational institutions across the country.
For example, at BSU, a coworking space for young entrepreneurs was created based on StartUp Space (which had been operating since before 2020). The HTP has started holding themed hackathons for students—including with the participation of Belarusian banks.
In addition to Kirill Zalessky, according to devby’s sources, Dmitry Mikulko—head of the HTP’s Startup Center—plays a major role in the «university direction.» Previously, he created a similar center at BSU.
«I came to the idea of developing youth entrepreneurship while still serving as the Belarusian Republican Youth Union secretary,» he told BSU students at a meeting. «I even have an archival document about creating a structure similar to the Startup Center back in 2010. At that time, I probably lacked experience. In any case, youth leadership potential needs somewhere to be realized. Worldwide, there aren’t many directions for realization: it’s either power or money.»
«StartUp Space in universities is essentially a franchise,» explains a Belarusian entrepreneur who wished to remain anonymous. «The main Space is at BSU. In each university, lectures and meetings with startup founders are held at these 'spaces,' and they allocate some premises for them to work.»
How well this works varies depending on the specific university. In some places, teachers and administration support students, may exempt startup founders from certain classes. In other places, such centers were created just for show. Some universities put in the effort, educate, conduct lectures, while others do the bare minimum.
However, according to devby’s sources, promising startups emerging from universities aren’t yet noticeable.
In search of the Promised Land: how an HTP official pitched a startup law—and became a minister
At the end of 2024, the University Cup for startup founders was held at the HTP. Five best projects were chosen from 35. According to one participant, the competition jury included the Minister of Economy, one of the Vice Prime Ministers, and HTP representatives—including Kirill Zalessky.
A devby source who wished to remain anonymous says that on the first day of the competition, Zalessky «pitched» a draft of new legislation on startups and investments in Belarus to officials.
«He explained that outsourcing is dying. That Belarus doesn’t have many resources, and we should develop as an innovative country. And he cited Israel as an example, which develops its startup movement without resources.»
According to Zalessky, he and a team of HTP lawyers are working on a bill according to which early-stage startups will be completely exempted from VAT obligations. As I understood, it involved tax deductions for initial investments in startups. For projects joining the HTP, a simplified reporting system will be in effect for the first years. Fully English law, the ability to attract foreign investments in a simplified manner. Something was also said about creating investment funds.
According to devby’s source, the draft legislation should be ready in the first half of this year.
The pitch was apparently successful—in March, Zalessky was promoted and became the Minister of Communications and Informatization.
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