Supporting startups and entrepreneurship | IT_Eureka competition

Projects are accepted until March 16.

IT_EUREKA competition is an integral part of Innovations Fest, an initiative of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. The main objective of this competition is to identify the most creative early-stage startups from all over Ukraine, who have already developed a prototype of their product/solution, have a basic understanding of business models and the advantages their product/service has over the competition.

From the end of February, IT_EUREKA team began accepting applications of IT startups eager to participate in 2020 competition. From those who will apply, the jury will select x finalists, who will then compete for the main prize of 100 000 UAH.

This year is the second one in a row when the Polish-Ukrainian Startup Bridge becomes involved in this initiative. This time, we aid as an official Partner of IT_EUREKA. Our main activities include involvement of qualified Mentors to work with teams of selected projects on their business models, financial planning, and the quality of pitches. Our mentors derive their expertise from being deeply involved into startup ecosystem: some of them are representatives of venture capital funds, others are professional business trainers and experts, with exposure to both Ukrainian and EU markets.

One of the main priorities of Sigma Software is creating and developing IT ecosystem in Ukraine. They cooperate with public institutions, perform direct investments in education-related activities, share the need-to-know information and expertise, and provide hands-on counseling to those founders, who put their ideas into practice.

The competition consists of four stages:

Applications (end of February 2020 – March 16, 2020).

Those startups, willing to participate, must fill in a registration form and send a brief description of their projects. More details about the terms of the competition and requirements you can get here.

Selection Process (March 16, 2020 – April 1, 2020).

The selection of finalists is going to last as long as two weeks. The following selection criteria will be considered:

– Novelty and practical use of the product/service,
– Whether all essential business aspects of the project have been worked out,
– Whether the product has been built and is successfully monetised,
– Availability of a functioning prototype.

Mentorship Sessions (April 1, 2020 – May 10, 2020) [updated: September 30, 2020].

A cycle of one-to-one mentorship sessions with mentors, during which the theme will be working on the main aspects of their projects with our mentors and Sigma Software mentors.

The final of the competition will take place on May 14, 2020 [updated: October 5-6, 2020], during the All-Ukrainian forum of Innovation Fest.

The Jury consisting of representatives of innovative business, venture capital, international organisations will select winners of this edition of the competition.

The All-Ukrainian forum of Innovation Fest for the fifth year in succession has been gathering in one venue Ukrainian inventors with outstanding potential, experts, representatives of the leading industries, and businessmen. It creates a bridge between business and startups, which provides the opportunity for a dialogue between those, who generate valuable business ideas and those who are looking for them.