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The Belarusian startup sector began to play a systemic role and expand its potential around 2015, thanks to the rapid development of the ICT industry. By 2020, its share of GDP had reached 7.5%, and its share of total employment was about 2.5%. The sector has effectively created a segment of an active middle class in the country, characterized by a strong entrepreneurial orientation, liberal views, and a relatively firm stance toward entrenched state paternalism. All this even though a significant portion of the sector’s companies are members of the High-Tech Park (primarily for tax benefits).

Startups have emerged as one of the main drivers of innovation for the ICT sector. Venture projects with Belarusian roots – such as Flo, MSQRD, MAPS.ME, and PandaDoc have become success stories: they have achieved leadership in their respective niches, and some have attained “unicorn” status. These examples served as a source of inspiration for other aspiring entrepreneurs. Hackathons, conferences, and numerous non-profit startup schools at universities and schools across the country further fueled interest in entrepreneurship.

This entire movement declined quite sharply from fall 2020 to spring 2021. Currently, the full-scale development of startups within the country is extremely difficult due to a combination of several factors:

• the destruction of the nascent venture capital infrastructure,
• legal vulnerability,
• and the futility of fundraising under a dictatorship.

About 90% of promising startups have left the country. The main factors driving the emigration of over 80% of startup founders were repression targeting individuals, media, and communities following the 2020 elections. Notable cases include the forced shutdown of the Imaguru hub in April 2021 and the closure of the country’s leading independent media outlet, TUT.BY.

The start of the war in Ukraine in 2022, with Belarus’s complicity, further exacerbated the situation and served as an additional catalyst for relocation.

At the same time, it is clear that local innovation and the startup ecosystem critically depend on the people who have left – those capable of thinking independently, acting autonomously, and taking risks (but not at the cost of freedom) – who need security and access to global markets. These conditions cannot be ensured under conditions of sanctions and totalitarianism.

Ultimately, without these people and their – for the most part – European vision of entrepreneurship, which presupposes security and the existence of basic rights and freedoms, we cannot expect the large-scale emergence of startups and innovative companies in Belarus.

Conversely, we can formulate a list of basic conditions necessary for the revival of startup dynamism in the country and the emergence of new innovative companies. First, the country must not participate in aggression or wage war against its own people and democratic forces. This will, among other things, help the country escape the sanctions spiral and shed its monstrous image in the eyes of most of its neighbors.

Second, a free economy, transparent legislation, a fair judicial system, and the ability to freely dispose of income and investments are essential. Without these elements, it is impossible to imagine a functioning venture capital ecosystem. After all, investors and customers look at companies, startups, and the country where they are based; for them, it is usually important to know whom to invest in and from whom to purchase services or software, even if the price-to-quality ratio is excellent. And without an ecosystem, one cannot expect large-scale growth of startups. The result is a vicious cycle: a lack of venture capital investors, low levels of investment, lower survival rates, but a high tendency for startups to relocate – and so on ad infinitum.

The market and prospects for local innovative projects have effectively narrowed to the CIS, with a tenuous hope for the SCO. It is extremely difficult to understand from the Park’s press releases how paternalism, the rhetoric of “nobody needs you there,” the idea of executive committees appointing heads of private entities, bans on dividend payouts for “outsiders,” BelAZ-style heavy-handed practices, and optimism regarding innovation and foreign investment can all fit into a single logic.

The domestic support infrastructure for BY-startups is also virtually destroyed today. Non-profit initiatives (such as startup schools) supported by USAID have long since closed, often accompanied by criminal prosecution. No new centers of attraction or hubs have emerged, opportunities and tools for financing startups are virtually nonexistent, and it is still too early to judge the results of the HTP’s recent venture capital activity. Without specific details, but with characteristic fanfare, promises were made to scale up the startup movement across 12 universities and to create “the foundation for the sustainable growth of the national startup ecosystem.” Where the previous foundation and growth have gone is not reported.

The infrastructure for financial support of startups (venture capital funds, private equity funds, and other forms of private financing) was underdeveloped even before 2020. The situation was partially offset by the blue passport’s neutral status in the West and by Russian funding until 2022. Now, however, there is little point in counting on Z-investments: the volume of traditional venture capital deals in Russia has shrunk, by various estimates, by a factor of 10 to 27 compared to 2021. As for Western investments, while physically located in Belarus (“blue-soil” jurisdiction, as it is sometimes ironically referred to)

 – and even more so, maintaining a legal entity and assets there – makes fundraising in Europe and the U.S. effectively unviable.

Ultimately, the Belarusian startup and venture phenomenon is now largely located outside the country. In 2026, Belarusian startup founders are predominantly economic and political exiles with higher education, strong potential, well-developed entrepreneurial skills, and partial integration into the EU market. A typical Belarusian startup today is a venture founded by individuals born in Belarus but now based in Poland, Lithuania, Portugal, or Cyprus. They generally do not emphasize their Belarusian origins; at the same time, founders are integrated into local startup ecosystems while maintaining Belarusian connections through professional communities (e.g., U Hub), diaspora events, Telegram channels focused on Belarusian startups, and mentoring platforms such as XMentor.

Clear shifts have also occurred in the go-to-market strategies of relocated founders. Previously, many viewed Belarus (often alongside Russia) as their primary market. Today, they are oriented toward integration into the global market. Approximately 90% of scale-ups target either the European market at the initial stage or move directly to North America, implying deep adaptation of product, sales, and fundraising practices to Western standards and requirements. The most prominent sectors for startups with Belarusian origins outside the country remain Fintech, HealthTech, and SaaS (Software as a Service). AI/ML products are also gaining traction, as are gaming projects (though these are not always venture-backed).

Certain elements of the infrastructure supporting Belarusian startups can likewise be found outside Belarus. The situation mirrors that of founders: many investors have relocated, often having participated in protests and/or operated businesses oriented toward Western markets. For example, the business angel network AngelsBand was relaunched only in 2024 in Lithuania, while the vast majority of its members have dispersed internationally, reducing the frequency of investments and focusing more on mentoring and supporting fellow relocated founders.

For angel investors, investing in relocated Belarusian founders simultaneously reduces risk – due to a better understanding of cultural context and team backgrounds – and represents a deliberate effort to support members of their own community. Capital thus functions as a mechanism of solidarity aimed at preserving and developing the startup community’s potential under adverse conditions.

Startups with Belarusian origins in exile formally retain a Belarusian identity, partially maintaining internal networks, nationally oriented hiring practices, and, in some cases, continuity of business culture. In practice, however, they are increasingly transforming into Western companies operating under Western standards.

Assessing their contribution to Belarus today remains a complex task. There is a near absence of both researchers and systematic studies of the Belarusian venture sector, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to disentangle the success of most projects from their new jurisdictions of operation and incorporation. It is reasonable to conclude, however, that the startup community in exile constitutes carriers of entrepreneurial know-how and democratic values. This represents a form of high-quality human capital that Belarus has, to a significant extent, lost permanently. At the same time, in the future, diaspora-based innovators may become an important component of Belarus’s economic reconstruction under democratic conditions, contributing advanced expertise and potentially generating some employment within the country.