In 2018, as part of the initiative of the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy entitled “Increasing the Competitiveness of Ukrainian Regions and the Development of Polish-Ukrainian Economic Cooperation,” an initiative called “Support for Ukrainian Micro- and SMEs, Particularly for Start-Up Companies” was initiated under the brand name “Polish-Ukrainian Startup Bridge.” The project was implemented by the Cooperation Fund Foundation (FFW), an organization that has been working for 30 years to support Poland’s economic and social development, as well as to support countries receiving Polish development assistance. The Polish-Ukrainian Startup Bridge (PUSB) is a project aimed at Ukrainian startups, inventors, and innovators, as well as Polish investors and investment funds. Its main goal was to identify the best business ideas during regional meetups in Ukraine. This was followed by accelerating startups through training sessions led by experienced experts from Poland and providing them with direct contact with representatives of venture capital funds. Furthermore, the authors of the projects selected during the regional meetups had the opportunity to present their business ideas at the annual Kyiv Tech Hub conference in Kyiv, which summarizes PUSB’s activities. Participants could also apply for the event by completing the appropriate form on the project website – startupbridge.eu. Selected projects received cash and development awards from both the competition organizer and its partners.
Regional Meetups
Over the three years of the project’s existence, 17 regional meetups were organized in Ukraine’s largest business and academic cities, including Lviv, Odessa, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Dnipro, Khmelnytskyi, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Mykolaiv, Rivne, and Kharkiv. During these meetings, Ukrainian innovative projects had the opportunity to present their ideas to Polish investors and participate in B2B meetings with representatives of Polish VC funds. Furthermore, entrepreneurs could learn about the opportunities and possibilities offered by the Polish innovation and VC ecosystem to Ukrainian startups and R&D projects. A total of over 1,000 people participated. All of this was done in cooperation with Ukrainian institutions at the governmental and regional levels, which contributed to the development of young innovators.
Support from Experienced Mentors
The PUSB project also established a network of mentors who conducted over 300 individual training sessions in 2020 alone. Over the past three years, the PUSB team has collaborated with over 400 startups, the most promising projects of which have had at least one or two meetings with project mentors or the Startup Support Center operating within the project. Approximately 150 Ukrainian innovative projects have received full-time mentoring support.
Our mentors are experts with extensive experience in finance, law, public speaking, and marketing. They supported startup founders appropriately to the project’s development phase and their needs, from business model consulting and presentation skills to securing financing,” said Tomasz Jegier, CEO of FFW.
Kyiv Tech Hub Conference
Besides regional meetings and mentoring sessions, financial support is also important. The total prize money awarded to the finalists of the Kyiv Tech Hub conference, which has already become a permanent fixture on the map of important startup events in both countries, amounted to 120,000 PLN. We are very pleased that the projects we support are also recognized in Poland, as exemplified by the startup TechNovator, a finalist of the 2020 Polish Intelligent Development Award,” says Krzysztof Grochowski, lead expert and originator of the Polish-Ukrainian Startup Bridge project.
Projects operating in areas such as the Internet of Things, e-commerce, fintech, medtech, gaming, AI, agritech, and others participated in the events. One of the 2018 event winners – Dynamic Air Cooling (DAC) – is actively operating in the Polish market and has received public funding under the National Center for Research and Development program.
For the fourth edition of the Kyiv Tech Hub conference, which took place in October 2020, we received over 60 applications from across Ukraine, of which we selected 20 for the finals. The jury, which included representatives of VC funds and the Cooperation Fund Foundation, evaluated the startups based on criteria such as business potential, scalability, competence, and team completeness, as well as the presentation of the project itself, noted Krzysztof Grochowski.
The Kyiv Tech Hub conference organizers also emphasized valuable networking, including one-on-one meetings at designated tables. The fourth edition of the event achieved a new record. Using a special meeting scheduling tool, startups had the opportunity to connect with nine Polish venture capital funds. Among them were representatives from Simpact VC, bValue VC, ValueTech Seed, EdTechHub Ventures, SPINAKER Alfa, Shape VC, SMOK Ventures, Impera Alfa, and AgriTech Hub VC. In 2020, 54 such meetings were held. This allowed participants to get to know each other better, establish valuable business partnerships, initiate investment negotiations, and gather feedback on their solutions.
Our work to date has equipped dozens of startup teams with knowledge that will allow them to grow their companies faster, manage their finances better, and avoid the sometimes costly mistakes of novice entrepreneurs, while also communicating more effectively with both the market and potential investors.
For me, the most valuable experience in the project was the opportunity to meet people from the Ukrainian startup industry – both from institutions and the idea creators themselves. It was encouraging to see the dedication of young Ukrainian entrepreneurs in developing their ideas – how they are able to leverage limited resources and overcome challenges unknown to others to achieve their goals,” says Łukasz Wawak, project manager of the Polish-Ukrainian Startup Bridge project.
Future Plans
In the new Polish Development Aid project for 2021-2023, titled “Polish-Ukrainian Startup Bridge,” The Ministry of Finance and Development (MFiPR) intends to continue the PUSB project, expanding its support for the Ukrainian startup industry and innovation ecosystem, given the enormous potential of Ukrainian micro and small technology enterprises.
More effectively reaching the most developed pre-seed and seed-stage projects, whose business models can adapt to the Polish market, is one of the most important challenges facing the project organizers. Maintaining a leading position in support for SMEs and startups, by providing the highest quality knowledge and experience through training PUSB mentors, is another priority. This is especially true given that since the project’s launch in 2018, numerous alternative and competitive programs have emerged from other countries. A third key issue is maintaining and expanding existing collaboration with local public partners and commercial organizations to leverage synergies for shared goals.
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*Article prepared for the project summary for the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Polish Aid program
