Following the final pitch by 5 startup teams that secured the top positions, they were awarded vouchers for Amazon Web Services and the Ukrainian Future business incubator, as well as vouchers for tickets to one of the world's most prestigious innovation festivals.
The Startup Accelerator is an intensive educational program developed in collaboration with GIST (Global Innovation through Science and Technology), a global innovation project by the U.S. Department of State. The participants, consisting of 13 startup teams with ready Minimum Viable Products (MVPs), spent 2.5 months working on training and mentorship sessions to refine their projects. The culmination of the program was the final pitching event held on December 16 right after group mentorship sessions at the UF Coworking Space on Chokolivsky Boulevard, 13. Each team had 5 minutes for presentation and an equal amount of time to answer questions from the jury members. The startup presentations were evaluated by the following individuals:
- Oleksandr Danyliuk: Financier and statesman, co-founder of the Center for National Resilience and Development; involved in projects at McKinsey & Company and formerly led the Rurik Investment fund in London. He served as Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council in 2019 and as the Minister of Finance of Ukraine from 2016 to 2018.
- Dmytro Kuzmenko: Expert in the Ukrainian venture investment market, CEO of the Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (UVCA).
- John Shmorgun: Former President and CEO of AgroGeneration (currently a member of the company's Board of Directors), member of GIST Innovates Ukraine, and a consultant to the Food and Agriculture Organization and the Ukrainian Soil Partnership on soil degradation issues.
- Volodymyr Khmurych: Business analyst, economist, and financier, representative of the investment company UMG Investments, and former director of the Bila Tserkva Industrial Park.
The top places were awarded as follows:
- 1st place - Efarm.pro (a device navigator for agricultural machinery).
- 2nd place - 3 Engineering (a solution for smart homes).
- 3rd place - OK TOWN (a tourist assistant application).
The winners will receive vouchers for tickets to participate in the Web Marketing Festival 2022, an international innovation festival scheduled to take place in Rimini, Italy from June 16-18, 2022. Additionally, they will be provided with vouchers for the services of the Ukrainian Future business incubator, valued at $2,000 each.
Three other teams, namely OK TOWN, Crypto Code Call (a device for confidential phone conversations), and Bear Band (a bracelet for non-invasive diagnosis of infectious diseases, including COVID-19), will receive $10,000 vouchers for Amazon Web Services."