Ukrainians have made a significant contribution to the technology sector. According to Bloomberg, one in five Fortune 500 companies used Ukrainian IT services. Undoubtedly, the Ukraine invasion will disrupt the tech talent pool.
Every tech enthusiast knows that Russia is infamous for cyber warfare, misinformation, and weaponizing digital platforms. The tech industry is already short in semiconductors, and the war will deepen the semiconductor crisis across the globe.
I would also like to share that 90% of the USA semiconductor supplies come from Ukraine, and 45% come from Russia.
This article is about Ukraine’s contribution to the technology industry; here are the four key technological companies that Ukrainians introduced to the world. At least one of them is something that we all use daily — WhatsApp.
Let’s dive into the exploring part.
Grammarly
Grammarly is a cloud-based Ukrainian company that helps with spelling, grammar, punctuation, and clarity checks. The application uses artificial intelligence (AI) to assist users in determining the best substitute for the problem.
Alex Shevchenko, Max Lytvyn, and Dmytro Lider founded Grammarly in July 2009.
As Head of Language Technology, Dmytro is responsible for the Grammarly natural language analysis engine’s research strategy and technical product management. Mr. Lider is a co-founder of Grammarly and a Ukrainian.
He’s also in charge of Grammarly’s social impact efforts in Ukraine.
WhatsApp Messenger, or just WhatsApp, is a freeware, cross-platform centralized instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by Meta Platforms that is available worldwide (Facebook).
Users may exchange text and voice messages, conduct audio and video chats, and share photographs, documents, user locations, and other stuff.
Jon Koum, a Ukrainian, is the co-founder and former CEO of WhatsApp, which Facebook purchased in 2014 for $19.3 billion. According to Forbes, Mr. Koum has a net worth of $10.7 billion, making him one of the world’s wealthiest people.
Gitlab
GitLab is a DevOps platform that unifies development, operations, and security teams into a single app. GitLab enables teams to reduce development expenses and security concerns while speeding up product delivery from weeks to hours.
Dmytro Zaporozhets and Sytse Sijbrandij cofounded GitLab in 2011 to create open-source tools to let developers communicate more effectively and deliver code on the move utilizing features like wikis and tracking.
Solana
Solana is an open-source blockchain that supports smart contracts, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and various decentralized apps (dApps).
The SOL token, native to Solana’s blockchain, provides network security and a mechanism for transferring value through staking.
Solana was co-founded by Anatoly Yakovenko. Before becoming interested in blockchain technology, he began his career as a software developer.
Furthermore, the Solana CEO has used his skills and insight to distinguish Solana from other cryptos on the market.
Anatoly grew up in Ukraine, in the former Soviet Union, in the 1980s. His parents are first-generation Soviet Union emigrants.
The bottom line
The people of Ukraine have had a significant impact on the tech sector. I had no idea Ukraine was a tech country until a couple of weeks ago, and I did not know Ukrainians created several world-famous applications and games.
This post is dedicated to the world-famous Ukrainian brands, tech talent, innovative technologies, and Ukrainian people who have significantly impacted our lives.
