To support creative ideas that deserve worldwide recognition, the Swedish IT consulting company Sigma Software with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine for the sixth year in a row holds a competition for startup projects in the field of information technology IT_EUREKA. This year Sigma Software Labs is the driver of the competition.
As part of the competition, an all-Ukrainian webinar “From a student project to a Ukrainian unicorn” was held on September 7. The meeting had the format of a mini-interview with 5 teams of successful Ukrainian startups. Viewers had the opportunity to ask questions to participants and get answers live on YouTube.
In case you missed important moments, viewing the broadcast recording is still available at: https://youtu.be/PrNL9GEpVLA
The moderators of the meeting were PR Lead at Sigma Software Labs — Daria Yaniieva and Chief Learning Officer at Sigma Software — Maxim Pochebut
During the webinar, 5 mini-interviews were conducted with participants and winners of IT_EUREKA previous seasons, as well as with successful startups supported by Sigma Software Group.
Key time steps:
00:40 — welcome speech by the representative of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine
08:17 — information about the IT_EUREKA competition from the moderator of the event
13:08 — Elomia — IT_EUREKA 2020 winners
31:20 — IOON — IT_EUREKA 2020 participants, IT Arena 2020 silver medalists, Sigma Software Labs residents
46:31 — Lingart — IT_EUREKA 2019 winners
1:02:37 — Projectium.Network — IT_EUREKA 2020 participants, Sigma Software Labs residents
1:14:56 — WOD Insight — IT_EUREKA 2021 participants
The first participant was Taras Pogrebnyak from the Elomia team (winners of IT_EUREKA last year). The Elomia team used artificial intelligence and created a virtual psychologist to solve the problems of people suffering from stress, depression, and anxiety. This technology makes consultation with a psychologist available to everyone.
Key issues:
— how to start your own business
— the impact of the pandemic on the project development
— why to register for competitions such as IT_EUREKA
— how filling out an application form helps to evaluate your own idea
— feeling after failure
We also listened to Andriy Manuylov’s advice from the IOON project (IT_EUREKA 2020 participants, IT Arena 2020 silver medalists, and Sigma Software Labs residents). An innovative solution from IOON is a portable device that converts ordinary water into a sanitizer thanks to the technology of interaction of silver ions with water.
Key issues:
— pandemic influence on the demand for sanitizer
— what kind of mentoring does the team need
— the business model of the project
— plans for technological improvement
— how a scientist can become a CEO
The Lingart team (winners of IT_EUREKA 2019) was represented by Mykhailo Malkush. Lingart is a platform for multilingual interactive audiobooks that allows you to read and listen to literary works. This approach to reading improves comprehension and memorization several times.
Key issues:
— project competitors and niche search
— how realistic it is to apply when there is no team yet
— “recipe” of the successful startup process
— the painful experience of losing partners
— why most startups fail in the beginning
The fourth participants were the team Projectium.Network (participants of IT_EUREKA 2020 and Sigma Software Labs residents) and it’s representative Alexander Buzin. Projectium.Network is a platform for like-minded people in the startup community, which brings together owners and projects, and allows you to tell the world about your startup, find like-minded professionals, and put the boldest ideas together.
Key issues:
— assessment of the startup community of the project
— tendencies of the post-pandemic period regarding the development of new ideas
— a new experience in cooperation with IT_EUREKA
— how important advertising is for a startup
— the most promising areas of startup promotion
The final team of the meeting was WOD Insight — a platform based on artificial intelligence for athletes involved in CrossFit and HIIT. The WOD Insight team is a member of IT_EUREKA this year, this project was also supported by Sigma Software Group. And the representative of the team, Veronika Korzh, was on the other side of the organizational work of the IT_EUREKA competition in the past years and is now immersed in the development of her own startup. She knows the process from the inside and has already received the first results of the implementation of her experience on her own project, which she shared with the audience live.
Key issues:
— how important it is to have a personal relationship with the idea of a startup
— the main mistakes of teams when filling out application forms for competitions
— at what stage should the legal registration of the company begin
— which side of the startup is the most interesting
— whether it is difficult to cooperate with others within the framework of the startup
The event took place as part of the sixth season of the IT_EUREKA startup competition. We accept applications until September 20: https://iteureka.com/reyestraciya/
Apply now to announce your startup for the whole country!
