PayPal, WhatsApp, Grammarly — 10 global companies you didn't know have Ukrainian roots

It's a fact little known around the world: Some of the biggest names in tech were founded by Ukrainian-born entrepreneurs, including PayPal, WhatsApp, and Grammarly.

These companies, now headquartered across the U.S. and Europe, owe part of their success to Ukrainian-born entrepreneurs whose innovations have shaped how millions communicate, pay, and work online.

Here are 10 of the world's most recognizable tech companies founded or co-founded by Ukrainians.

PayPal / Affirm

Co-founder Max Levchin was born in Kyiv, Ukraine

PayPal revolutionized digital payments when it was launched in the late 1990s, eventually being acquired by eBay for $1.5 billion in 2002. The platform became the backbone of online commerce, processing billions in transactions globally.

One of the founding members is Max Levchin, a Ukrainian-born entrepreneur who left Kyiv with his family in 1991 as a teenager. He became PayPal's anti-fraud architect and co-created one of the first commercial Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHA).

In 2012, in San Francisco, Levchin founded Affirm, which now dominates the buy-now-pay-later market. The company went public in 2021 with a $12 billion valuation and has a current market capitalization of $25 billion. Levchin's current net worth, according to Forbes, is estimated at $2.1 billion.

WhatsApp

Co-founder Jan Koum was born in Kyiv, Ukraine

With almost 3 billion users sending over 150 million messages daily, WhatsApp is one of the world's most popular ways to stay in touch. When Facebook bought it for $22 billion in 2014, it was the biggest startup acquisition at the time.

Behind the global messenger stands Jan Koum, who was born in Kyiv and immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager in 1992. From humble beginnings on welfare, the self-taught programmer co-founded WhatsApp and built a $16.9 billion fortune, making him the wealthiest Ukrainian immigrant in the U.S., according to Forbes.

Grammarly

Founded in Kyiv, Ukraine by three Ukrainians

Three Ukrainians — Alex Shevchenko, Max Lytvyn, and Dmytro Lider — launched their English writing helper Grammarly in 2009 in Kyiv. A decade later, more than 40 million users rely on Grammarly daily to help them proofread and spell check their texts.

The company puts its annual revenue at $700 million, and it was last valued at $13 billion in 2021.

After Shevchenko and Lytvyn's net worths hit $4 billion in 2021, they became the first tech founders to top Ukraine's wealth rankings ahead of traditional oligarchs. Their net worths have since fallen to $1.9 billion, according to Forbes.

Reface

Founded in Kyiv, Ukraine, where it maintains its headquarters today

Reface, founded in 2018 by a group of Ukrainian developers, is an artificial intelligence product company best known for its face-swapping application for videos and photos. In the five years since it was founded, it has been downloaded over 250 million times and in 2020, was number one in the entertainment category in the Apple App Store in the U.S., surpassing TikTok and Netflix for a time.

The app has been used by billionaire Elon Musk, and celebrities Snoop Dogg and Britney Spears, and in 2021, Reface partnered with Warner Bros. to promote "The Matrix 4." In 2020, Reface raised $5.5 million for product development from Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and investors including "South Park" creators and music managers of stars Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Britney Spears, and Miley Cyrus.

Following the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, the company sent 13 million push notifications to tell Russian users the truth about their country’s aggression against Ukraine.

GitLab

The first Ukrainian unicorn, founded by Dmytro Zaporozhets from Kharkiv, Ukraine

When developer Dmytro Zaporozhets from eastern Ukraine's Kharkiv got frustrated with existing code management tools, he decided to build his own in 2011. Since then, Zaporozhets' initial side project, GitLab, has grown into a comprehensive coding platform used by over 50 million registered users worldwide.

GitLab became Ukraine's first unicorn — a startup with a valuation of more than $1 billion — in September 2018. In October 2021, the company went public on NASDAQ, valued at $11 billion, with shares jumping 35% on the first day of trading to reach a market cap of $14.9 billion. After the company listing, Zaporozhets became Ukraine's then-richest software engineer with a fortune of nearly $460 million.

Revolut

Co-founded by Ukrainian developer Vlad Yatsenko

Behind the U.K.-based global payment platform, which lets users manage finances through a single platform, stands Ukrainian developer Vlad Yatsenko. In 2015, he co-founded Revolut with Nikolai Storonsky, who was born in Russia but later renounced his Russian citizenship following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The app’s success has earned Yatsenko a $1.2 billion fortune.

The application now serves over 60 million customers worldwide and is currently valued at $45 billion. The company is reportedly in talks to raise new funding that could boost its valuation to $65 billion.

MacPaw

CleanMyMac was developed in Kyiv by Oleksandr Kosovan

As of 2023, every fifth Mac on Earth had at least one MacPaw application — a testament to how big this bootstrapped software company has become. Founded by Oleksandr Kosovan while studying at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute in 2008, he created CleanMyMac, an optimization tool for Mac users to clean and speed up their computers.

This success evolved into other products like Setapp, a subscription service for Mac apps, and AI assistant Eney. The company now serves 30 million users worldwide, with MacPaw’s software downloaded in over 180 countries, all without external investment.

‘A bumpy ride:’ CEO of MacPaw, developer of apps for Apple devices, on business during war

Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine has dealt a devastating blow to the country’s economy. While the country has begun to bounce back from an initial 29% drop in GDP, it’s estimated that at today’s level of growth, the country’s GDP won’t return to pre-war levels at least until 2030. Some areas of the economy, however, have proved more resilient than others, and – remarkably – some companies are even finding opportunities amid the disaster of war. That’s according to Oleksandr Kosovan, the foun

The Kyiv IndependentNina Mishchenko

Depositphotos

Founded by Dmitry Sergeev in Kyiv

With over 300 million files and 44 million customers worldwide, Depositphotos is one of the world's largest stock photo marketplaces. Founded in 2009 by Dmitry Sergeev in Kyiv, it grew into a global content empire, competing with industry giants like Getty Images and Adobe.

The U.S. firm VistaPrint acquired Depositphotos in October 2021 for $85 million, with Sergeev reportedly receiving nearly $50 million from the deal. Depositphotos today employs nearly 450 people in six countries, including Ukraine.

Petcube

Founded by three Ukrainians in Kyiv

Petcube was the first company in the pet-tech sector to create smart cameras that let owners watch and play with their pets remotely. When the Kyiv-based trio — Alex Neskin, Andrey Klen, and Yaroslav Azhnyuk — launched their Kickstarter campaign in 2012, they raised a record-breaking $251,000, the most ever for a pet product on the platform at the time. Since then, Petcube has sold more than 1 million products worldwide.

Petcube is headquartered in the U.S., but most of the company's 60 employees remain in Ukraine. The U.S. market, which consists of 85 million pet owners, was the first target and still makes up 80% of sales, typically through online retailers like Amazon. The company also donates to the Armed Forces and UA Animals, an NGO that helps animals during the war.

The story behind Petcube, the Ukrainian-founded, multimillion-dollar pet tech company

Editor’s note: This article is part of a series of profiles highlighting successful Ukrainian startups and businesses. The series is funded by the regional investment fund Ukraine-Moldova American Enterprise Fund (UMAEF) and created in partnership with Spend With Ukraine, a non-profit organization that launched a platform to showcase businesses with Ukrainian roots and provide one more meaningful way to support Ukraine – by choosing to spend with Ukraine. The series’ sponsors are not involved in

The Kyiv IndependentDominic Culverwell

Preply

Founded in the U.S. by three Ukrainians

Preply, an online marketplace connecting language learners with tutors, was founded in 2012 by Ukrainian entrepreneurs Kirill Bigai, Serge Lukyanov, and Dmytro Voloshyn. Today, over 40,000 tutors teach hundreds of thousands of students globally, and revenues have grown tenfold over the past three years.

While the company's value isn't publicly known, various estimates from 2022 and 2023 put it somewhere around $430 million. The company raised $70 million in funding in 2023, bringing its total funding to $170 million.

Ukrainian forces receive 1,000 FPV drones in first rapid deliveries via pilot weapons marketplace

Deliveries via the new DOT Chain Defense marketplace were four times shorter than the standard procurement procedure, according to Ukraine’s Defense Procurement Agency.

The Kyiv IndependentAbbey Fenbert