GovTech Lab Ukraine selects three startups to pilot digital solutions in the public sector

What’s happening

Ukraine's Government-as-a-Startup model has reached its next level with GovTech Lab Ukraine shortlisting three startups across Europe to work with its public sector to solve three targeted challenges: legal assistance, urban development and tourism management. 

The Ukrainian, Lithuanian and Nordic startups will work with Ukrainian public sector teams to refine user needs, test hypotheses, and prepare pilot concepts. 

Over the next 12 weeks, the startups will receive up to US$100,000 (S$127,000) each to implement and test its solution in real operating environments, before scaling it across the Ukrainian public sector. 

Who is shortlisted

1. Automated legal assistance  

Obriy AI, a Ukrainian company developing enterprise-grade AI solutions, will work with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine to improve access to basic legal guidance for citizens while reducing operational workload for the Free Legal Aid service.  

Obriy AI will pilot its SURE platform to support the Free Legal Aid service.  

The solution deploys AI agents capable of understanding legal intent, retrieving information from knowledge bases, and assisting operators in handling citizen inquiries while complying with strict security and data-governance requirements.  

The pilot is expected to help reduce workload for legal aid staff, improve response times, and ensure more consistent service delivery.  

2. Data-driven tourism management  

citytax UAB, a Lithuanian GovTech startup, will work with the State Agency for Tourism Development of Ukraine to improve the collection, analysis, and use of tourism data to support transparency and better policy and decision-making.  

citytax UAB will pilot a digital platform for accommodation registration and tourist-tax administration, introducing standardised identifiers, structured data flows, and AI-based screening of accommodation listings.  

The solution helps authorities identify unregistered properties, improve compliance, and enable more reliable tourism data for policymaking.  

The platform is designed to integrate with public sector systems and align with European regulatory requirements, supporting scalable implementation beyond the pilot stage. 

3. Transparent and efficient urban development  

Itera, a Nordic software and innovation company, will work with the State Inspectorate of Architecture and Urban Planning of Ukraine to improve transparency and efficiency in construction and urban planning processes, particularly in working with documentation and regulatory requirements, which are critical in the context of Ukraine’s reconstruction efforts. 

With more than 30 years of experience and a strong team in Ukraine, Itera presented an AI-powered solution designed to automate the extraction, structuring, and verification of complex construction documentation.  

The system performs compliance checks against regulatory requirements and introduces auditable workflows and role-based dashboards, helping improve transparency and efficiency in construction-permit issuance. 

Why it matters  

 
The Ukrainian government continues to test new models of collaboration between government and technology companies even under crisis conditions. 
 
GovTech Lab Ukraine is Ukraine’s first open innovation programme for the public sector that enables public agencies to work directly with startups to pilot digital solutions before scaling them across the sector. 

This approach helps reduce the risks of large-scale digital projects, accelerates innovation cycles, and allows both public institutions and technology companies to develop solutions grounded in real operational needs. 

These pilots are designed to generate practical evidence on effectiveness, usability, and scalability, helping public agencies make informed decisions about further adoption and scaling. 

What’s next  

The next 12 weeks will see the startup teams working together with government partners to develop and deploy the proposed pilot solutions in real operating environments. 

They will be supported by Mastercard for the data-driven tourism management challenge, East Europe Foundation for the automated legal assistance challenge, and De Novo for infrastructure support across all three challenges.