Kyiv City State Administration is working with Igor Shoifot, chairman of Ukrainian Happy Farm incubator and the U.S. representative of TMT Investments venture fund, to open a co-working space in Kyiv, where startup teams will be able to work on their projects free of charge. Existing spaces in the Ukrainian capital charge anywhere from $70 to $200 per desk per month.
“Startups mostly happen not thanks to
investors or rich people, but young guys who can’t even pay for a co-working
space. Therefore they have to work from home, but projects worked on from
apartments don’t survive. Silicon Valley’s concept of startups made in a garage
is there for a good reason,” Shoifot told the Kyiv Post.
In the Global Coworking Survey published by Deskmag in
2012, more than 75 percent of respondents stated that using a co-working space had a
positive impact on their productivity, business network and social circles. In
addition to that, Princeton University sociologist Martin Ruef noted in
his study of entrepreneurs that a co-working environment, or any environment
that allows to significantly broaden one’s social circle, makes entrepreneurs
far more innovative than their “lone” peers.
The joint project of Shoifot and Kyiv
authorities, official announcement of which should come out in the following
months, is expected to have a great capacity to host dozens of teams, allowing
aspiring entrepreneurs to “work, mingle, network, and meet fellow startupers,”
Shoifot said.
This news comes in the wake of the decision to freeze the construction of Bionic
Hill innovation hub in Kyiv outskirts. The project, which consisted of living,
working, and learning premises for IT professionals and entrepreneurs, has
stalled without receiving expected support from the city council, which earlier
promised to build a road and connect utility lines to the complex.
Andrii Degeler is the Kyiv Post’s information technology
reporting fellow. Degeler has been covering the IT business in Ukraine and
internationally since 2009. His fellowship is sponsored by AVentures Capital, Ciklum, FISON and SoftServe. He
can be reached on Twitter (@shlema) or
[email protected].
