Our final meetup in the first half of the year was held on the June 6, in Impact Hub Odessa. Over 50 people have gathered to learn about Polish ecosystem and the tools available for Ukrainian startups. We are immensely grateful to our general partners in Ukraine (Re:actor Open Innovation Platform) and Poland (Narodowe Centrum Badań i Rozwoju, Warsaw Stock Exchange), as well as regional partners in Odessa (Business Incubator Group, Impact Hub Odessa).

The first part of the event was all about Knowledge: after the official opening by the Polish Council Andrzej Szmidtke and Michał Khaletskyi, Manager of Polish-Ukrainian Startup Bridge Project, our Partners have shown what acceleration opportunities (MIT Enterprise Forum) as well as public funding opportunities (National Centre for Research and Development) and public/private venture capital (Simpact VC, AgriTech Hub, Value Tech VC) are ready to open for Ukrainian high tech projects.

The second part was all about Startups: from more than a dozen of applications, five of the best projects were given a chance to present their ideas to our jury. In Odessa, the projects presenting were:

Our jury consisted of Łukasz Wawak (NCBiR), Alex Bart (co-founder and managing partner of Empire State Capital Partners), Katarzyna Grondkowska (Investment Manager from Simpact VC), Mateusz Ciasnocha (Incubation Manager in AgriTech Hub) and Łukasz Owczarek (Head of Acceleration in MIT Enterprise Forum).

Each of the finalists has done an amazing job presenting their ideas. Before the Pitching Battle, each of them had an intense mini-mentorship session with an Expert from Polish-Ukrainian Startup Bridge project. The level of each project was uneven, but without exception everyone did an amazing effort to be at their best. But the winner can be only one – and in Odessa it was Impulsar – a smartband for people with epilepsy and autism. The device will allow to adapt and socialize people with epilepsy and autism and thereby get rid of their isolation and alienation from society.

Following this event, we are opening the second stage of startup recruitment on the 12th of June. After the second stage will be finished, Experts from Polish-Ukrainian Startup Bridge Project will choose the best to participate in the intensive Mentorship Sessions in September and compete for an opportunity to present their ideas during Kyiv Tech Hub conference on October 3rd.