Ukrainian Startup Fund held thirteenth Pitch Day

06.10.2020

On October 3, the Ukrainian Startup Fund held the thirteenth Pitch Day. The event took place in an offline format on the territory of the UNIT.City innovation park. 10 startups made presentations (pitch). All of them are at the seed stage (applying for state grant funding of $ 50,000 each).

The event began with congratulations from the Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine for digital development, digital transformation and digitalization Vitaly Lavrov, who spoke about the first joint project of the Fund and the Ministry – the hackathon:

“Speaking about the Ukrainian Startup Fund, such a metaphor came to my mind. Perhaps everyone saw the picture: “The lungs of a smoker and the lungs of a healthy person”. So USF is a state project of a healthy person. When we offered cooperation, the fund’s employees responded very quickly, we discussed how we can be useful to each other. Our point of contact was sports startups. There was an idea to make a separate pitch day with these projects, but they were not enough. So, the idea appeared to “pump” this sphere and make Sport and Entertainment Hackathon, which will take place October 30 – November 1. It will be devoted to such topics: sports, e-sports and sports entertainment. So join us! And I hope that in the near future we will be able to hold a Pitch Day (and more than one) specifically for sports startups”.

The teams were supported by Yegor Chernev, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on Digital Transformation:

“A few years ago, if they said that it was necessary to change the digital and IT-sphere, it was only in business circles. Time passed and a small team of people appeared, who for the first time wrote the digital agenda of Ukraine – a kind of roadmap of actions that the state needs to take to be digitally endorsed, to become more developed in the digital economy. Then enthusiasts wrote strategies for the development of an innovative economy. And finally it began to come true, this is how the Ministry of Digital Economy for Digital Transformation was created. Startups are one of the most important components: you create not just products, these are products with high added value, so you create the future of Ukraine! We want innovations in the field of IT to turn our resource economy into a high-tech one. The flagship project of our committee and the Ministry of Digital Science is “Action City”, the advantages of which are a special tax regime, namely, reduced taxes on the wages fund, interest rates have been reduced on income tax, simplified conditions for the employment of employees, protection from illegal actions of law enforcement agencies. We strive to create the most comfortable conditions not only for Ukrainian companies, but also for foreign ones. We want successful companies to stay in Ukraine, to register intellectual property rights here and unicorns to grow here and Ukraine to become high-tech!”.

Olexandr Romanishin, Deputy Minister of Economy, Trade and Agriculture, spoke about the possibility of financing for startups that crossed the seed stage in his presentation:

“From now on, Ukrainian entrepreneurs will be able to apply to the bank to service their credit lines and the state will partially compensate interest rates on loans in UAH.

Thanks to the draft Law of Ukraine “On State Support of Investment Projects with Significant Investments”, it is possible to receive up to 30% of state support from the planned volume of investments in the form of exemption from payment of certain taxes and fees / exemption from taxation of import duties / granting the right to use a land plot / security objects of related infrastructure.

There is an export credit agency that can 1) insure your risks when you enter into contracts with foreign partners; 2) give bank guarantees when fulfilling foreign economic obligations and holding international tenders; 3) provide before expert funding.

The Council of Exporters and Investors under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hold regular online briefings with the participation of Ukrainian ambassadors and representatives of Ukrainian business, where you can get advice on the specifics of entering foreign markets. You can follow the news here: rei.mfa.gov.ua or here facebook.com/REI.MFA.Ukraine“.

The solemn part was completed by the managing partner of Unit School of Business Artem Makeev, who, together with the Director of the Fund Pavlo Kartashev, signed a memorandum of cooperation:

“Together with the Ukrainian Startup Fund, we have similar missions – to develop entrepreneurship. Pavel and I have been working on the same floor for a year now and it seems to me that our unification was only a matter of time, since we share common values. Our school will definitely be useful for startup teams, as it offers high-quality and startup-relevant education according to the most modern world practices”.

Who evaluated?

Kateryna Degtyar. Director of Division Startup Grind Kyiv.
Olexandr Ryabtsev. Founder of Startup.In.UA.
Andriy Zinchuk. Demium Managing Director.
Mikhailo Khaletsky. Senior Investment Analyst Simpact VC.
Andriy Guly. Chief Analyst at Indax.
Maxim Beshleul. Founder and CEO of MedicalLife.
Hanna Tolstanova. Head of the Research Unit and Professor of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.

The main criteria for evaluating projects at the seed stage are: team, market, product, the expediency of financing, strategy. In each category the maximum is 5 points (total maximum 25). The passing score for recommendation to the Supervisory Board for a grant is 15 points.

Results

Based on the results of the assessments of the Competition Commission, the following rating list of startups was formed (from the highest score to the lowest):

Outloud.ai. A platform that allows hospitality companies to automate voice communications with customers using artificial intelligence.
Esper Bionics. Esper Bionics develops next-generation bionic hand prosthesis and cloud platform as a service, teaches prostheses wearer habits, improving control.
IGnation. A web application for organic development and monetization of social media profiles. Making money on Instagram has never been easier.
Erudito. A mobile app that turns elementary school learning into a game.
WheelKinetic. The revolutionary compact scooter for the city. Your personal assistant, which you can always take with you, and use it exactly when you need it.
xOffice. A technology platform (PropTech marketplace) for the direct lease of office real estate, managing the lease and purchase process from application to transaction. Thanks to the modern technology of secure exchange of contacts, we provide an opportunity for tenants of the direction to interact with the owners of premises, quickly select premises and easily enter the rental process.
MAFIN. Control and scaling tool for small and medium-sized businesses, which includes all the necessary functions for business management.
MeteoControl. Insur-tech is a company that helps farmers and other businesses insure weather conditions using satellite weather data.
Reelly.io. A digital platform that helps you find an effective and responsible realtor for your goals anywhere in the world. Business model – market network.
Apiway. A platform-marketplace of software, where you can choose software, and then set up many integrations between these cloud software for free without a programmer, in two clicks.