The first hackathon in Ukraine in the industry of sports and entertainment. How it was
Sport and Entertainment Hackathon, the first hackathon of sports and entertainment ideas and startups in Ukraine, took place in Kyiv from October 30 to November. The event was organized by the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Startup Fund with the support of the All-Ukrainian Youth Center.
Ukraine is deservedly considered one of the countries with the most active development of the IT industry in the world. However, there are a few national technological projects in the sports and entertainment industry. To help the Ukrainian sphere of sports and entertainment to transform and to adapt to modern conditions, the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and Ukrainian Startup Fund held a specialized hackathon. The event was held in compliance with all quarantine requirements of the city of Kyiv – because of restrictions in the hall could be present only one representative of the team, and the others worked remotely. The hackathon generated a lot of interest – the organizers received more than 200 individual and team applications. Among all applications for participation in the hackathon were formed and selected 35 teams.
As a result of active work during three days in the finals on the pitches were presented 28 projects were presented their ideas on the final pitches. The project 12Climb, an application for climbers and interactive climbing wall, took the first place and received the main prize from the general partner of the hackathon, the company Parimatch Tech – 30,000 UAH. The second place was taken by the Mixsport project, the sports aggregator of Ukraine and a marketplace of sports locations, coaches, sporting events and activities. Third place was won by Fanbuster, a social platform for fans. Platform FC Rukh became interested, and the parties have already discussed potential cooperation. The special prize in 500 USA for a task execution on e-sports from the company Esports Charts received the Stream Radar team.
“I am very glad that despite the pandemic we managed to hold a hackathon. We changed format and, taking into consideration all quarantine restrictions, nevertheless we held the event offline. Now the most important thing is that we found each of these projects and started our own communication, created a progressive sports community. This is just our first event, but there are many more joint events ahead of us. And we will definitely help to develop the projects that took part in the hackathon,” said Vitaly Lavrov, the Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine for Digital Development, Digital Transformations and Digitalization.
“At the Sport and Entertainment Hackathon, we’ve seen a lot of great ideas and already finished projects at the development stage. Everyone who made a pitch is a real winner, whereas they are developing their own startups at this difficult time. During the hackathon participants gained new knowledge at lectures, conducted networking, worked with mentors. I am sure that for all projects this event will be a springboard to new achievements, and we are ready to help those who have decided to become a successful innovative entrepreneur, ” comments Pavlo Kartashov, SEO of the Ukrainian Startup Fund.
The partners of Sport and Entertainment Hackathon were Parimatch Tech (general partner), JKR and Morshynska (official partners), as well as the Course of Sport management and marketing sportsed.org, Esports Charts, MalibuFit, FC Rukh, Smart Leader, Sport.Vision, Amigo partners, Garage partners, Esport.in.ua, Sports diplomacy center, Ukrainian Federation of Rhythmic Gymnastics, Ukrainian Esports Federation, NTUU “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute».
Additional Information:
The Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine is the central body executive power, the activities of which are directed and coordinated by the Cabinet of Ministers Of Ukraine. The Ministry of Youth and Sports is the main body in the system of central executive bodies government, which ensures the formation and implementation of state policy in the youth sphere, spheres of physical culture and sports, national-patriotic education.
The Ukrainian Startup Fund is a state fund launched on the initiative of Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. The mission of the fund is to promote the creation and development of technological startups in the early stages (pre-seed and seed), in order to increase their global competitiveness. The process of selecting startups for grants takes place on a competitive basis: companies are evaluated and elected by the board of independent investment experts.
