Page 61 - UKRRptMay19

9.1.7 TMT sector news
Venture investments in Ukrainian IT start-ups increased by 30% last year y/y, to $337mn, reports a study by Deloitte and the Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association. Similarly, the number of deals increased by 29%, to 115. The average investment increased by 12%, to $918,000. Mergers and acquisitions appeared for the first time, with seven deals registered for a total of $25mn. With the collapse of the bit coin boom, the number of ICOs fell from 19 to four. For the smallest of start-ups , crowdfunding platforms remained popular, with seven campaigns raising a total of $1.4mn.
Russian individual investors and companies have bought around $8.6bn worth of Bitcoins, according to economist Vladislav Ginko estimates, cited by Bitcoinist. Ginko said the Russian government does not own any of the cryptocurrency and most investors are people trying to avoid US sanctions. The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is threatening to imposed sanctions that would ban Russians from using dollars in transactions. Bitcoins were worth $5,000 at the start of April – its highest value in five months -- up from circa $4,700 in March, but still well off their 2018 highs, which went into five figures.
Ukrainians are among Europe’s fastest adopters of mobile device payment systems and other non-cash transactions, Maria Babenko, regional director for Visa Inc., tells Focus magazine. “Of course, if we compare Ukraine with Europe in terms of the amount of money flowing through non-cash channels, we are still an emerging market,” says Babenko who handles CIS and Southeastern Europe. “But if we look at Ukraine in terms of adaptation of innovations, then I would say that we are seen as a leader in this direction...Apple Pay and Google Pay, which work in Ukraine, have not yet entered all European markets...contactless transactions in many countries are far less common than in Ukraine because of the unwillingness of retailers to receive such payments.”
In a reversal, Ukraine’s mobile phone operators now earn more money
61 UKRAINE Country Report May 2019 www.intellinews.com