Business news from Ukraine

On February 26, 2024, Kyiv hosted the Grand Pitch Day of the educational grant program Pochinok. Ten finalists of the program presented their business ideas to the jury and competed for two main project incentives – up to $5,000 in additional funding to implement their business ideas.

The educational and grant program Pochinok aimed to improve the business skills of Ukrainian women and help them launch or develop their own businesses. The project included online and offline training, consultations with leading psychologists, mentoring from business experts, and financial support for business development.

Ten finalists of the Grand Pitch Day were selected from 200 participants of the Program, who had already attracted financial support of up to $3,000 for business development during their participation in the project. The participants received the highest scores for their business presentations from mentors from the Diia.Business network of entrepreneurial support centers, actively attended educational classes during their studies, and, accordingly, had high academic performance in the project.

“We at the Ministry of Digital Transformation are building a country of entrepreneurs. That is why we created the national project Diia.Business, which provides free opportunities and tools for entrepreneurs. We pay special attention to women entrepreneurs, as women now account for 60% of new sole proprietors. Therefore, we strive to help Ukrainian women acquire the necessary business knowledge and receive specialized support. The educational and grant program Pochinok has become a record in terms of the speed of registrations and the activity of participants. Almost 6,000 entrepreneurs took part in the program, of which 200 participants received up to $3,000 to develop their own business idea or a new line of business,” said Valeria Ionan, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation for European Integration.

Valeria Ionan, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation for European Integration

According to the jury’s vote, the two main awards of the Initiative were given to the following participants:

● Iryna Antonchyk, AgroHobby garden center. She studied at the Diia.Business center in Lutsk
● Natalia Olshanska, production of natural dogwood products Famberry. She studied at the Diia.Business center in Kryvyi Rih.

Winners of the Grand Pitch Day

“The Office for Entrepreneurship and Export Development and the national project Diia.Business are actively involved in the implementation of educational and grant projects aimed at supporting women’s entrepreneurship. The Startup program has become an important first step for many Ukrainian women to start a business or the necessary inspiration to continue developing their own business. During the training, participants gained new business knowledge, mental, mentoring and financial support. Today we saw competitive, strong and creative participants who proved by their own example that Ukrainian business is not standing still, but is actively moving towards new achievements,” said Andriy Remizov, Director of the Office for Entrepreneurship and Export Development.

Andriy Remizov, Director of the Office for Entrepreneurship and Export Development

More than 6,000 women entrepreneurs took part in the educational and grant program
In the first stage of training, participants attended 11 online lectures from leading business experts and a project psychologist. Entrepreneurs learned more about: business model analysis, financial management, leadership psychology for women, strategies for success and self-development, digital transformation of small and medium-sized businesses, team management and building HR processes, etc.

The second stage of the training included 367 participants who presented presentations on their future or existing businesses to the project’s independent mentors. In addition, the entrepreneurs were involved in 11 online and offline business and psychology classes at Diia.Business centers, received individual mentoring support, and had the opportunity to compete for financial support from the Program. The total grant fund of the program is UAH 22,570,000.

“The Grand Pitch Day is of great importance as a key moment in the UN Women project “Strengthening Gender Response and Prevention of Violence against Women and Girls in the Context of the Humanitarian and Refugee Crisis in Ukraine”. This event is the culmination of efforts, a platform where women’s aspirations and entrepreneurial endeavors take center stage. It provides a unique opportunity for participants to showcase their business ideas, innovations and plans to a diverse audience,” said Julia Broussard, UN Women Deputy Representative in Ukraine.

Julia Broussard, UN Women Deputy Resident Representative in Ukraine

The expert jury of the Grand Pitch Day included:

● Aslikhan Ozkan, Planning and Partnerships Specialist, UN Women Ukraine
Yevheniia Klepa, Director of Partnerships and Innovations, SET University
Valeriya Chachybaya, producer, Forbes Ukraine
Anton Shulyk, financier, entrepreneur and co-founder of fint8 platform

Grand Pitch Day jury

Criteria for evaluating the business projects of Grand Pitch Day participants by the jury:

● Vision, ability to implement the project – participants had to justify a step-by-step plan for its implementation.
● Business project, relevance and effectiveness of the project – the idea must meet the goals of the acceleration program and market requirements, having a positive impact on Ukrainian business and the culture of doing business.
● Realism of the hypothesis – the project must be aimed at meeting the needs of the target audience and meet the hypothesis of the market niche that the company plans to occupy.
Competitive advantages – the parameters that distinguish a company, product, service or business concept from competitors in the selected niche are evaluated.
Financial strategy – participants must present a description of specific areas of development of the company, product, service or business concept, which will be the focus of further investments, as well as a plan to increase the project’s profitability.

For reference:

The educational and grant program Start was implemented by the network of entrepreneur support centers Diia.Business with the assistance of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, the Office for Entrepreneurship and Export Development with the support of UN Women Ukraine and the Government of Japan.