The Ukrainian Startup Fund held the 20th Pitch Day

On January 15, the Ukrainian Startup Fund held its 20th Pitch Day to select startups for state financing. The event took place online and due to quarantine was held remotely, using a service for video conferencing – Zoom. 13 startups made presentations (pitches). 11 of them are in the pre-seed round and pretend for government grant funding of $ 25,000 each. The other two are participants of the EUREKA Globalstars international competition, who for the first time defended their projects before a board of independent investment experts on the platform of our Fund, which is a condition for receiving grant funding and further progress in the competition.

The event began with a greeting from the First Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Mykola Kyzym:

“This is a special event for our ministry, because today is the final performance of the Ukrainian teams-participants EUREKA Globalstars, which Ukraine first joined in June last year. This is an international initiative that enables teams of Ukrainian business, research institutions and universities to participate in a joint project competition between Singapore and 14 EUREKA member countries. Participation in this competition involved a two-level selection. Initially, the teams had to form their own consortium, consisting of at least two participants, one from Singapore and the other from one of the countries participating in the initiative. This barrier turned out to be the most difficult and not everyone overcame it: only three teams out of 33. Another member of the trio dropped out of the national selection stage, not gaining enough points to participate in today’s pitch. Therefore, I wish the two teams that have gone through this difficult path to show all their capability and, of course, success in further work”

The solemn part was completed by Yulia Bezvershenko, Director General of the Directorate on Science and Innovation, representative of the High-Level Group of the EUREKA program from Ukraine:

“Our main mission as a Ministry is to create conditions in which Ukrainian researchers and innovators will have the opportunities, motivation and tools to develop and implement their ideas. We are currently working to expand the tools for this and the next step is to join the Horizon Europe. For Ukrainian innovators, this program means access to European grant funding instruments and involvement in research communities. As for the EUREKA Globalstars competition, I will note that these are just some of the tools offered by this initiative under the EUREKA “umbrella”. Among other things, these are, for example, network and cluster projects. I recommend everyone concerned to follow our Ministry news to be aware of new opportunities for your ideas”

Who is the jury made up of?

• Kateryna Degtyar. Chapter director at Startup Grind Kyiv.
• Olesya Malovana. Chapter director at Startup Grind Dnipro.
• Oleksandra Balkova. Chief Operating Officer of accelerations programs at Startup Wise Guys.
• Yurii Sereshchenko. Managing partner at Quarter Partners.
• Vadym Rogovskiy. CEO and founder of Startup School Online.
• Yuriy Kozik. CEO Advisera.
• Oleksandr Riabtsev. Founder of StartupInUA.

The main criteria for evaluating projects at the seed stage are team, market, idea, the feasibility of financing, strategy. In each category, a maximum is 5 points (in total maximum is 25). The passing score for a recommendation to the Supervisory Board for a grant is 12 points.

The main evaluation criteria for EUREKA Globalstars projects are team, market, product, the feasibility of financing, strategy. In each category, a maximum is 5 points (in total maximum is 25). The passing score for a recommendation to the Supervisory Board for a grant is 15 points.

The results

This time the audience award according to a vote in the telegram channel was gained by the startup RichMe.

A special prize from LIFT99 Kyiv Hub, in the form of two months of free access to the startup hub personally by Inna Shilova, community and event manager, was awarded to  OSBB Online.

According to the results of the Competition Сommittee’s assessments, the following startups rating list was formed (from the highest score to the lowest):

1. OSBB Online. A comprehensive solution for managing apartment buildings and comfortable living of residents.
2. ComeBack Mobility. Smart sensors for crutches to monitor the load on the limbs after various conditions and injuries to the lower extremities.
3. obimy. Сервіс та додаток для невербальної комунікації.
4. LineBar. Multifunctional construction 3D printing technology, which allows to print building elements with several materials simultaneously and directly on construction site.
5. MindSelf. A mobile instrument for psychological self-help: stress coping, mental well-being support, focus and mindfulness improving.
6. Checki. A smart service of electronic receipts. Customers do not need to save cash receipts anymore. Businesses can lower charges on paper and fiscal registers and can get an additional marketing tool.
7. Native. Platform for learning languages, which gives lots of affordable realistic practice with personalized feedback from a live teacher.
8. Noplag. Plagiarism detection software and resources for academic writing: online editor, essay examples, outline templates, grammar checker, citation generator.
9. RichMe. A virtual assistant that will help novice investors in planning, choosing a strategy and selection of financial instruments, as well as will accompany them until the goals are met.
10. Spexfy. The best service to create project specifications documents.
11. Gremly. All services in one App. It’s easy to choose the best companies and quickly to book in a few clicks.

A separate rating was formed for the contestants of the EUREKA Globalstars initiative (from the highest score to the lowest):

1. Achieving sustainable living through end-to-end energy tracking on a blockchain. A decentralized energy network that allows property owners to track, automate, and account for their energy sustainability goals, sell clean energy to their tenants, and operate carbon-neutral charging stations.
2. EcoTyre. Development of a complete system for monitoring waste management based on Earth observation. The service will include an AI artificial intelligence tool to detect illegal landfills on satellite images in large areas, as well as a tool to monitor environmental impact and landfill development over time to identify hazards and assess the minimization of its impact on the environment.

At the USF Supervisory Board meeting, which will take place in the near future, it will be decided which startups will receive grant funding.

We remind that according to the results of the 18th and 19th Pitch Days two startups at the pre-seed stage (BDiary, Custle) and five startups at the seed stage were funded (SEMCS by Mosquito Control, Amperia, SameKey, Apiway and Creative Practice).