Techosystem, an open union of Ukrainian tech ecosystem stakeholders, has appointed a new executive director. Maksym Bakhmatov, a former advisor to the mayor of Kyiv, ex-director of VDNH, and former managing partner at UNIT.City, has taken over from Kateryna Hrechko. In an interview with AIN, Bakhmatov outlined his plans for 2025, which include expanding Techosystem’s membership, clustering startups, entering international markets, and establishing a regional presence. Meanwhile, Kateryna Hrechko reflected on her time in the role and shared her plans for the future.

How the new CEO was chosen

According to Hrechko, the decision to change management was made in late September 2024, after she learned she was expecting a child. Techosystem launched a tender to select a recruitment agency, with A-Players emerging as the winner. The agency screened around 150 candidates, and in December 2024, the Techosystem board appointed Maksym Bakhmatov as the new executive director.

Maksym Bakhmatov’s background

Though best known as the former CEO of VDNH, an advisor to the mayor of Kyiv (2019–2020), and a show business figure, Bakhmatov also has extensive experience in innovative technologies.

While working at the advertising agency Leo Burnett in 2002, he founded iLeo, a division focused on CRM systems, database marketing, and direct mail. In 2005, he launched his own IT company, UkrGerman Enterprise, based in Frankfurt, specializing in boutique outsourcing.

“It was premium outsourcing, with rates of about €40–50 per hour, while the average rate in Ukraine was just $20–25. [Editor’s note: At that time, the international IT market averaged around $30.27 per hour],” Bakhmatov explains. In 2014, SoftServe acquired UkrGerman Enterprise — its first attempt to expand internationally, though it initially lacked experience working with foreign clients.

In 2005, Bakhmatov also founded UkrGameExport, a project aimed at distributing Ukrainian game development projects, which he now calls a “prototype of today’s Techosystem.”

As head of VDNH (2015–2017), he oversaw the site’s rebranding and restructuring, including the development of an innovation cluster, VDNH-TECh. After securing a partnership with Kyivstar, the cluster evolved into Radar Tech — the first corporate accelerator in Ukraine. According to Bakhmatov, it trained around 1,000 startups, many of which still have contracts with major Ukrainian corporations such as MHP, Kyivstar, DTEK, and BNP Paribas Group.

Key goals for Techosystem’s development

Bakhmatov has outlined several priorities for Techosystem:

  • Expanding Techosystem’s membership: Increasing the number of startups in the organization to 500 and total members (including scalers and investors) to 700.

  • Establishing regional offices: Opening representative offices in cities such as Vinnytsia, Rivne, Zhytomyr, Lviv, Dnipro, and Kharkiv, in cooperation with local authorities.

  • Helping Ukrainian startups enter global markets: “The key focus is Silicon Valley,” says Bakhmatov. He aims to establish connections with US investors willing to support Ukrainian startups and facilitate opening an office in the US to create a more systematic link between the two countries.

  • Developing physical clusters: With plans to grow Techosystem’s team to 30–50 specialists, Bakhmatov envisions the need for a dedicated physical space. Currently, Techosystem operates from coworking spaces such as Kooperativ and Lift99.

  • Clustering startups: According to Techosystem’s research, Ukraine has between 2,000 and 3,000 startups. Bakhmatov believes that the priority should be to integrate them into an ecosystem — at least in a virtual format — before determining the next steps.

However, Techosystem has already made progress in clustering, Hrechko notes. The organization has identified 20 product verticals, grouped by industry domains such as Defense Tech, MedTech, EdTech, AgriFood, and Energy & Environment. Once a vertical reaches 10+ participating companies, it can form a cluster, elect a leader, define 3–5 key annual projects, and submit proposals to the Techosystem Board. Currently, there are two established clusters: Defense Tech (16 companies) and HRTech (12 companies).

“We are a democratic, bottom-up organization,” says Hrechko. “We’re building a community and addressing both individual challenges of our members and broader ecosystem issues. For example, during the cluster formation process, we hold strategic sessions where participants define their needs with the help of facilitators. Some challenges are common across sectors — like workforce mobilization policies — while others, such as participation in specialized conferences, vary by domain.”

In addition, Techosystem has created two policy-focused committees: one on venture capital investments and another on formal and non-formal education. In total, there are ten such policy areas.

Kateryna Hrechko’s contributions and achievements

Hrechko joined Techosystem in its earliest days, before its official launch. The initiative grew out of the Ukrainian Tech Ecosystem Overview platform, launched in late 2020. Techosystem was formally registered in summer 2022 by founding members Genesis, Sigma Software Group, BRISE Capital, Ukrainian Bridge, Vacuum Tech Accelerator, and Center42. After a strategic session in December 2022, the organization was publicly launched in April 2023, with over 400 people attending the event.

Techosystem initially focused on startups, launching a Customer Development (CustDev) process immediately after its public debut. Hrechko and co-founder Oleksandr Yatsenko surveyed startups to identify their needs, helping to shape Techosystem’s value proposition. By July 2023, the first members joined, and by April 2024, membership had grown to 75.

“Startups that join Techosystem receive benefits and membership discounts, including access to cloud services, infrastructure tools, and legal and marketing advice,” says Hrechko. “But the biggest perk is access to Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud — resources that are particularly costly for early-stage startups.”

Membership fees vary based on company size and employee count.

Hrechko and Ukrainian Bridge co-founder Yevheniia Bespalova also secured grants for international expansion efforts. Over 2.5 years, Techosystem implemented more than 70 projects, including participation in global events like SelectUSA Investment Summit, Collision Canada, London Tech Week, TechChill (Latvia), and Latitude 59 (Estonia).

In late 2023, Techosystem joined the Seeds of Bravery consortium, funded by the European Innovation Council. The organization is responsible for maintaining Ukraine’s DeepTech startup database and conducting research on the sector.

In mid-2024, Techosystem secured a grant from UMAEF to strengthen its institutional capacity. This funding supported a strategic session in July 2024 — just two months after the organization elected a new board.

“We’ve also secured UK support through the Good Governance Fund for cluster development, which means Techosystem is now recognized internationally in the EU, UK, and US,” Hrechko notes.

Hrechko now plans to step away from leadership roles for a year to focus on motherhood. However, she intends to maintain ties with Techosystem — though the exact format of her involvement remains undecided.