Science & Business Acceleration Program
Kyiv, 2025 — The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, together with the Ukrainian Startup Fund, announces the launch of a new wave of the Science & Business Acceleration Program.
The initiative aims to support student and research teams working on innovative, science-intensive technologies and help them transform their ideas into competitive business solutions.
This year, the program is being implemented in collaboration with SET University — a leading private tech university — and Berkeley Haas Entrepreneurship. It will bring together 15 promising startup teams on their journey from idea to commercialization.
Over the course of six months, participants will receive intensive educational, mentoring, and ecosystem support — from strategic mapping and working with advisors to pitch preparation and meetings with potential partners and investors.
The Science & Business Acceleration Program is a national acceleration initiative designed to support the development of science-intensive projects by Ukrainian researchers, entrepreneurs, and innovators.
The program targets startups working in the following priority areas:
- MedTech
- BioTech
- AgroTech
- GreenTech
- Dual-use
Who are we looking for?
- Teams at the PoC stage or TRL 3-6
- Students and researchers with science-intensive projects
- Startups with a prototype or MVP but no prior investment
- Teams with at least two members, one of whom must be a student or researcher. Solo founders are not eligible to apply.
What participants can expect during the 6-month acceleration:
- Identification of team needs
- Workshops
- Hands-on sessions
- Pitch training
- Mentorship meetings
Program Timeline:
- Application submission: April 29, 2025 – May 24, 2025
- Pitching of finalists for program selection: May 29, 2025
- Program start: June 2, 2025
- Demo Day: November 2025
Demo Day — the final presentation of team developments to the jury, investors, and partners.
The prize fund includes, among other things, $25,000 in AWS cloud services for the finalists.
Registration on the Fund’s portal is available in the “Partner Programs” section in the left-hand sidebar menu.
The Science & Business Acceleration Program is an opportunity for researchers and young innovators to make a name for themselves, build their own startup, and attract support for realizing ideas that could change the future of Ukraine.
Science & Business is a program by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the Innovation Development Fund (Ukrainian Startup Fund), launched in 2021 to build an ecosystem for the commercialization of science-intensive innovations and technologies at early stages of development created by Ukrainian researchers, startups, and entrepreneurs. This year, the Science & Business Acceleration Program is being implemented in collaboration with SET University, a leading private innovation and technology higher education institution, and Berkeley Haas Entrepreneurship.
The Science & Business Acceleration Program is also part of the Roadmap for the Development of a Network of Startup Schools, Incubators, and Accelerators, which opens up opportunities for startups that are already part of these institutions and offers additional expertise, access to markets, and funding.
We invite innovation hubs to join the program and send their teams to participate in the acceleration.
