From tech pioneers to ‘extremists’: Belarusian founders face exile and statelessness

In 2013, Tatyana Marynich and Anastasiya Khamiankova opened the doors to Imaguru, a startup hub in Minsk, Belarus that would go on to launch some of Eastern Europe’s most prominent tech success stories. A decade later, they’ve been sentenced ‘in absentia’ to a combined 23 years in prison by Belarusian authorities. Their property has been seized. Their work was declared “extremist.” Marynich’s passport has expired and revoked, leaving her stranded and stateless in Spain. Their crime? Building an independent, pro-entrepreneurial future the Lukashenko regime deemed dangerous for its championing of entrepreneurship in a country normally dominated by state-owned industries. “What began as an attempt to silence innovation has evolved into the full criminalization of independent business,” Marynich told TechCrunch over a call. Imaguru wasn’t just Belarus’s first startup hub. It became the gravitational center of the country’s tech ecosystem. The accelerator and co-working space helped crea ... Read full article.