The sustainable business pre-acceleration programme „Futurepreneurs for Ukraine“ organised by Sunrise Valley Science and Technology Park was launched in Vilnius. The sixth edition of the project will provide the participants with a wide range of entrepreneurial knowledge over a two-month period – from the refinement of an idea to the identification of its strengths and the presentation of the final product to potential investors.
Futurepreneurs for Ukraine will focus on Ukraine and sustainable ideas that can contribute to the country’s rapid recovery. This will be reflected in the pre-accelerator programme as well – the speakers at the opening event were Ukrainians: Sviatoslav Sviatnenko – global sharper, founder and CEO of Cyber/nnov8; founder and partner of the science popularisation platform INSCIENCE – Olena Skyrta; Svitlana Khrystenko – project manager at WorldStartup, as well as Volodymyr Bandura – speaker at Singularity University in Kyiv, and CEO of Allbionics.ai.
During the opening event, four speakers presented the main issues startups are facing during the war in Ukraine. As well as the challenges that require ideas, new technologies and innovation. S. Sviatnenko who joined the Futurepreneurs for Ukraine launch day event remotely, gave an overview of the realities of Ukrainian startups, noting that some of them are starting to do additional activities to help in the resistance against Russian attacks.
„The situation of the startups ecosystem in Ukraine is complex. The resistance to the Russian attack is huge, and it certainly affects the whole of Ukraine. Many startups are now working in two shifts. During the day they are carrying out their direct activities, as much as possible due to the various airstrikes, missile attacks and other disruptions of the war. At night the startups are involved in initiatives that help them to resist and to fight for their freedoms,“ – said the CEO of Cyber/nno8, a cybersecurity company that helps young startups that are developing a variety of products and services in this segment.
Meanwhile O. Skyrta who came to Vilnius from Ukraine on the opening of the project and who is one of the partners of INSCIENCE spoke more about the importance of technology in her home country during this difficult time.
„There are many problems in Ukraine that need different technological solutions. Let’s say agriculture is very important for our country and it generates food resources not only for us, but also reaches other countries through imports. In the current situation, some of the land cannot be used because of the active military operations taking place there. Some of the farmland is full of landmines that have been left there. We need technological solutions as to how mine clearance can be carried out quickly and efficiently. And this is just one example of how technology can help us“ – said Olena Skyrta who together with her company promotes the importance of science in society.
Svitlana Khrystenko also pointed out that science and innovation are crucial not only in resisting the invasion but also in preparing for its end. According to Svitlana this needs to be prepared to allow the country to recover faster once the war is over.
„The situation of the ecosystem is not good, but we have to fight against it and prepare for the future when the situation will be better. If we will be properly prepared then growth will be faster and innovation opportunities will allow us to adapt quickly. Of course the biggest obstacle is the uncertainty and this affects not only Ukrainian start-ups but also partners abroad, the ability to attract funding, to participate in international projects. But we must believe in the future, believe in innovation and cooperation,“ said S. Khrystenko, Project Manager at WorldStartup.
V. Bandura founder of Allbionics.ai joined Futurepreneurs for Ukraine remotely at the launch event. This company was established just over six months ago and probably if not the war in Ukraine, Bandura would not have thought of creating it.
„When the war broke out there was a great need to help people affected by it. We wanted to help those recovering from injuries and those who had lost limbs. We tried to mediate and obtain various prostheses from abroad to help improve the quality of life of the victims. When we saw that the processes were very long and that we could not get the quantities we needed. We started thinking about alternatives. We concluded that we had a good team of specialists around us and decided that we could set up a company and manufacture the prostheses that would allow people to continue to live a full life ourselves. In Ukraine avoiding supply chains and speeding up the whole process“ – the reasons for the creation of Allbionics.ai were revealed by V. Bandura.
This event at the Vilnius Tech LINKmenu fabrikas marked the start of the programme, and speakers from Ukraine helped the participants to better understand the biggest issues and realities in Ukraine.
Motivated Futurepreneurs for Ukraine participants will develop their ideas together with lecturers and mentors until the end of March and then present them during the Demo Day event. As usual for Futurepreneurs projects, a competent jury will evaluate the ideas and award the most deserving ones with special prizes.