The first international DRONE HACKATHON was held in Ukraine: Results
On the 28th of August, the 3-day on-site Drone Hackathon in the military-tech industry ended in Kyiv.
The event brought together the best 150 participants selected from 300 applicants, as well as top Ukrainian and international experts within the field of new technologies.
The main goal of the Hackathon is to develop new ideas and find digital solutions that will help to increase the level of development of drones, as well as their production and technical support in Ukraine.
At the opening of the event, speeches were made by: Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov, Deputy of Minister of Digital Transformation Yegor Dubynskyi, Member of Ukrainian Startup Fund’s Supervisory Board Dmytro Shymkiv.
For three days, 30 teams consisting of design engineers, drone operators and programmers worked on development of their own ideas.
Leading IT specialists, military, economists and businessmen joined the Drone Hackathon. Among them were representatives of the following companies: Antonov State Enterprise, Ukroboronprom state-owned concern, Palantir, Non-governmental organization Aerorozvidka, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and other representatives of the tech community.
As mentors, speakers and judges, they worked with the participants to develop the proposed solutions and pushed them to scale up ideas that will help the Ukrainian army to win the war against Russia.
The solutions proposed by the teams concerned the operation of drones, their interaction, recognition and other functions important for detecting and destroying the enemy.
According to the results of the pitching of all participants, 6 teams won.
The professional jury evaluated the projects according to the following criteria: meeting the requirements of stakeholders, innovative approach to the problem, completeness of the solution, simplicity and scalability, and presentation of the final product.
This week, the winners of the Drone Hackathon will go to the startup accelerator to work further on their ideas. The best mentors with expertise in business and technology will be waiting for them there.
In the accelerator, participants will work towards three possible directions, depending on the maturity of their team and its idea. This can be the creation of a product prototype for further testing, or the start of small or industrial-level production.
The event was organized by Ukrainian Startup Fund in cooperation with the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Ukroboronprom and IDI Camp.
USF is grateful to all the partners, speakers, team mentors and volunteers for their help in organization of the event.
P.S. Taking into account the military-tech direction and the purpose of the Drone Hackathon under martial law, the event was held in compliance with all security and privacy standards. We will tell you more about the progress after the victory.
