The Ukrainian Startup Fund held the 33rd Pitch Day
On November 12, the Ukrainian Startup Fund held its 33rd Pitch Day to select startups for state financing. Due to quarantine measures, the event took place in online mode. 13 startups made presentations (pitches). All of them are at the pre-seed stage (each of them applies for state grant funding in the amount of $25,000).
Specialize business publishing house of investment market InVenture and a platform based on the desire to strengthen the Ukrainian technological ecosystem TechUkraine joined as an event’s media partners.
The event was opened by Dmytro Korchynskyi, Chief Personal Data Protection Specialist at PrivatBank and co-founder of the Privacy Hub NGO, who spoke about the importance of protecting customers’ personal data, especially when scaling to foreign markets:
«At Privacy Hub, we try to create a culture of personal data protection and privacy in Ukraine: we maintain a telegram channel of the same name, where we tell news about privacy, analyze sanctions, and provide training. Within the framework of our activities in cooperation with the Ukrainian Startup Fund, we hold sessions where we tell you about opportunities to improve your product, what steps you can take to meet your users, minimize their risks, and run crash tests. Privacy is first and foremost about respect for people. No investor will fund a startup that does not protect personal data: both in the European Union and in the United States, this is an extremely relevant topic. To date, Ukraine is already working on a bill on personal data protection. Now in our country, there are about 30 specialists in this field and 3 of them, i.e. 10% will advise you!»
Who is the jury made up of?
- Kateryna Degtyar. Chapter director at Startup Grind Kyiv.
- Olesya Malovana. Chapter director at Startup Grind Dnipro.
- Mykhailo Khaletskyi. Credit Analyst at SEB AB.
- Maksym Beshleul. CEO Skylock Ukraine.
- Sergii Dovgopolyy. Managing partner at FeelGoodLabs businesses accelerator.
- Vadym Rogovskiy. CEO and founder of Startup School Online.
- Yurii Sereshchenko. Managing partner at Quarter Partners.
The main criteria for evaluating projects at the pre-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 results
This time the audience award according to a vote in the telegram channel was gained by the startup AdMarket.
The teams Olenka AI, Aromoshelf, My Cooperative, AdMarket, Self’in’Sure, and RICO received a special prize from UNIT.City – 3 months of free access to the modern coworking – NEST, which is located on the territory of the innovation park + its infrastructure.
Startups Olenka AI, RICO, and NOTY AI received a special prize from the event partner iHUB in the form of three months of free use of their workplaces.
According to the results of the Competition Сommittee’s assessments, the following startups rating list was formed (from the highest score to the lowest):
- NOTY.AI. A platform transforming video calls into actions. We transcribe meetings and summarize them, so our users can stay fully engaged during the meeting and have action items and follow-ups ready just after it. Noty is a knowledge keeper of your meeting data, so you can get any information in seconds by asking questions (Lviv).
- WheelKeep. An invisible trip computer that helps cycling enthusiasts protect their bikes from irretrievable thefts and enjoy the freedom of everyday cycling. It includes a smart hardware device and a mobile application (Dnipro).
- Olenka.ai. A voice bot for sales with AI. Calls customers, analyze their words, and responds according to a set script (Kyiv).
- AdMarket. A marketplace in the field of offline advertising, which helps businesses with the management of advertising campaigns by introducing technological innovations in the processes of search, planning, and purchase (Kyiv, Odesa).
- Connect 21. A platform for psychologists and psychiatrists, who will be with you 24/7. Here you can find a professional with specialized education and a therapeutic group. Colleagues will be able to choose special courses for the advancement of the quality level (Kyiv).
- ZenWalk. A mobile application that makes walking meaningful. It helps people improve their health by motivating them to walk more. Namely, thanks to a gamified map, a tracker of minutes to live, and a great social mission (Kyiv).
- E-movex. An artificial intelligence-based autonomous robot (AMR) with the ability to avoid obstacles and look for alternative delivery routes. An autonomous robot helps to transport goods in warehouses from point “A” to point “B” on itself or by hitching to a basket, rocker, or trailer (Sumy).
- Vuikobox. A platform for running an Agri-food business. Artisanal food from local suppliers. Impressions and tourism. SaaS toolbox (Kyiv).
- RICO. An AI-based intelligence nutrition advisor. This is a friendly nutritionist in your pocket, that aims to solve the problem of the availability and convenience of healthy eating, personalization of nutrition advice, and adaptability of recommendations in real-time (Kyiv).
- Aromoshelf. An AI-powered recommendation platform for fragrance retailers, creators, and end-users (Kyiv).
- RichMe. A virtual financial advisor with a full range of financial planning services in your smartphone in 5 minutes (Kyiv).
- Self’in’Sure. An alternative to voluntary health insurance, which allows you to neutralize the conflict that arises between the insured and insurance companies (Kyiv, Kharkiv).
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 32nd Pitch Day 5 startups were funded: ComeBack Mobility, Silentbox, Lab24, IBeauty, and HoldYou.
