In 2013, Tatyana Marynich and Anastasiya Khamiankova opened the door to Imaguru, a startup hub in Minsk, Belarus, which will continue to launch some of the most outstanding technical success stories in Eastern Europe. Ten years later, they were sentenced to 23 years in prison by Belarusian authorities. Their property has been captured. Their work was declared "extremists." Marinichi's passport has expired and revoked, leaving her in trouble and statelessness in Spain.
What are their crimes? To establish an independent, pro-entrepreneurial future, the Lukashenko regime was considered dangerous for its advocacy for entrepreneurship in a country that is usually dominated by state-owned industries.
“It was originally intended to develop an attempt to silence innovation into a comprehensive independent enterprise conviction,” Marynich told TechCrunch during the call.
Imaguru is not only the first entrepreneurial hub in Belarus. It becomes the gravitational center of the country's technological ecosystem. The accelerator and co-working space helped create more than 300 startups and raised more than $100 million in investments from the companies that emerged in the program. Successes like MSQRD (acquired by Facebook) and Prisma (acquired by Snapchat) can be traced back to the Imaguru early hackathons that Imaguru desires to attend, hoping for a better future.
“They are the main focus of the risk communities in Belarus,” said Max Gurvits, general partner at Vitosha Venture Partners in Bulgaria, an early mentor to Imaguru. “They brought together talent, investors, angels, and made the most important plan – and it was always nice to go there.”
Marvin Liao, another venture capitalist in the rolling fund expat, agreed. "They are super professional and very enthusiastic," he told TechCrunch. "Imaguru is the central location where the first startup founders and aspiring tech entrepreneurs come together in Belarus. Tanya and Nastia are community builders in the truest sense."
Their impact is not just about the economy. Marynich's late husband Michael Marynich paid a high price for his resistance a few years ago.
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Book nowHe served as ambassador and minister and was sentenced to jail from 2004 to 2006 after daring to run against President Alexander Lukashenko in the general election. He suffered multiple strokes in prison, an experience that shapes Tatyana’s decision to include International Finance Corporation in the World Bank and launch his own business.
“I was forced to engage in entrepreneurship,” she said. “Not only to survive financially, but also because I believe my husband sacrificed his health as the same democratic values.”
"If politics fails, then you have to create your own future. Entrepreneurs are free thinkers, while free people question power," she said.
For the Lukashenko regime, this belief made Imaguru dangerous.
When independent disagree
Massive protests broke out in Belarus after the 2020 election was widely regarded as fraudulent. Imaguru decided to open the door not only to entrepreneurs, but also to civil society groups, NGOs and opposition figures.
Marynich joined the Coordination Committee, a formal opposition led by opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. This is the last straw of the Lukashenko regime.
"She signed a statement saying they wanted to hold free elections," Guwit said. "But from that moment on, she was clearly an enemy of the country, with anything like her, like Imaguru, being completely forbidden."
By 2021, political pressure will become unbearable. Imaguru's lease was forcibly terminated by the government. As TechCrunch reported at the time, the masked officer raided his office.
By 2023, the KGB designated the image library as a "extremist form" and even exchanging information with the team in Berarus is a punishment crime. A former director was arrested. Family members of Imaguru employees are in exile. Their website has been blocked in several countries. The assets were frozen. On December 2 last year, the two co-founders were announced in prison.
On the same day, Marinich's Belarusian passport expired. According to Lukashenko's 2023 executive order, the Belarusian embassy can no longer issue or renew documents to citizens abroad, effectively capturing dissidents abroad.
“I’m a stateless person,” Marinich said. "I have a European residence permit, but I don't have a valid passport and I can't even apply for citizenship. I can't leave Spain. I can't open a bank account."
Despite this, the two founders continued on their mission. Imaguru now operates hubs in Warsaw and Madrid with the support of European institutions. The team also launched a campaign to declare entrepreneurs as human rights and rally support through an online petition.
"They really like their country," Liu said. "Now they can never go back. It's heartbreaking. I wrote a letter of recommendation for both of them for the international program. I'll do it again in a second. These are good people, and it's unjust."
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Although Imaguru has received institutional support in Poland and Lithuania, the Spanish government has not formally responded to the appeal. Marynich is still in trouble, hoping that visibility can help change bureaucracy’s indifference.
TechCrunch contacted the office of María González Veracruz, Spanish Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, but received no response at the time of publication.
"This is obviously a political repression," Liu said. "The democratic government should do everything possible to support them."
Gurvits agrees: "Even junior employees who once worked at Imaguru cannot return to Belarus. This is not just two founders. It is an entire community that has been exiled for believing in innovation and freedom."
Marinich remained provocative.
"We built something beautiful," she said. "Now, we are fighting for the right to survive. We are not giving up."