The winners of the project were awarded with certificates of honor and cash prizes from Lviv OVA, the total fund of which amounted to 350 thousand hryvnias.
Yesterday, May 5, the final of the pilot educational project “Promoting the development of youth entrepreneurship among IDPs” took place, during which 36 teams presented their startups for consideration by investors and representatives of local authorities, including 17 project prototypes and 19 business ideas.
The project started in 10 communities of the Lviv region in December 2022. More than 1,200 schoolchildren and students from Lviv region applied for participation in the program, 530 of them successfully completed their studies. Each participant was trained in two courses: a mandatory course “Creative thinking” and one of five modules to choose from: “Basics of IT”, “Biotechnology”, “Robotics”, “Management of drones”, “3D modeling”.
Based on the results of the training, the project participants presented 116 ideas for consideration by the mentors, of which 36 were selected for presentation to investors.
The deputy head of the Lviv OVA, Ivan Sobko, said in his congratulatory speech that the region plans to financially support the implementation of the most interesting business ideas of young people.
“If we do not invest in science, our children will not have a future, and if they do not have it, then the whole country will not have one. That is why the team of Lviv OVA encourages young people to self-develop not only within the educational process, but also during their leisure time. This educational project, which was implemented by the USAID “HOVERLA” team, clearly shows how motivated our boys and girls are for new things. With such a thirst for new knowledge and the creation of new revolutionary ideas that emerged from the finalists of this educational project, I am firmly convinced that the future of Ukraine lies with progressive youth who want to live in a modern and democratic state,” Ivan Sobko said.
Director of the Department of Education and Science of the Lviv Oblast Oleg Paska said that the development of creativity, invention and entrepreneurship among young people is among the priorities of the Regional Education Development Program for this year. According to him, more than 1,300,000 hryvnias are allocated for this within the program.
“We plan to attract the same amount in territorial communities on the terms of co-financing, because our education system lacks the spirit of adventure, entrepreneurship, courage and the ability to take responsibility. That is why our education department is actively working to help young people believe in themselves and acquire all these traits during the educational process. This is important so that when young people graduate from educational institutions, they are competitive and qualified specialists not only within the country, but also abroad. Such projects organized by USAID help our youth to believe in themselves and realize themselves in the fields where they see their future,” said Oleg Paska.
An expert jury consisting of representatives of USAID, local authorities and business determined the winning projects:
1st place – Vladyslav Bratyuk with the WARO smart reservoir cleaner project;
2nd place – Melania Voloshynska with a smart cane project for visually impaired people;
3rd place – Iryna Vovk and Nazar Shiyka with the project of the smart lamp Softlamr.
and business ideas – winners:
1st place – Mark Yarovy for the idea of increasing the efficiency of the use of cosmetics “Genetic Diversity Research Center”;
1st place – Anastasia Hrabovetska, Yulia Hrynash, Nadia Kutsopei, Victoria Savchyn, Anastasia Hai for the idea “Na Lushku”;
2nd place – Olga Svystun for the idea “Guardian of order”;
2nd place – Ivan Sidelnyk for the business idea of the assistant robot “Miner’s Assistant”;
3rd place – Sofia Gotsalo for the idea of breeding a strain of bacteria that effectively breaks down plastic “PET Biodegradation”;
3rd place – Yuriy Serkis, Solomiya Barabach with the idea “Outlook”.
The winners were awarded certificates of honor and cash prizes in the amount of UAH 20,000, 15,000, and 12,000, respectively.
At the same time, each participant in the final is already a winner, as he receives funding for the implementation of his own project.
Oleksandr Voloshynskyi, head of the Lviv regional office of the USAID HOVERLA Project, said that the youth entrepreneurship promotion project, implemented with the support of USAID HOVERLA, is a step towards creating a new generation of entrepreneurs and innovators in Ukraine.
“Through our cooperation with Tech Startup School, young people have been given the opportunity to develop and implement their ideas. We are glad that students from all over Lviv region, including IDPs, and not only from the 10 partner communities of the USAID “HOVERLA” Project participated in the project, which made it possible to support a much larger number of young people in developing their business ideas and promote the integration of IDPs in community The results of our joint work are pleasantly impressive, and we are convinced that youth entrepreneurship in Ukraine has great potential for development and improvement of the quality of life at the local level,” he said.
All finalist teams received incentive prizes in the amount of 5,400 hryvnias. The total prize fund from Lviv OVA amounted to 350,000 hryvnias, another 1,300,000 hryvnias are planned to be used to finance the projects of the finalists.