If you combine window blinds with a solar battery, a startup worth a million will turn out

There is a business incubator in Ukraine, where good startups have hatched. But they need peace for their growth

Admittedly, we were surprised to find that, despite the sound of sirens and the roar of rockets, a business incubator called Ukrainian Future is still operating, providing business consulting services for innovative businesses. The incubator has already raised many innovators and continues to help them in such a difficult time.

After looking at the project portfolio, one can involuntarily start to feel proud. For example, SolarGaps is a Ukrainian startup that for the first time in the world combined window blinds with solar batteries. In 2019, SolarGaps received a non-refundable grant from the European Commission in the amount of 1 million euros as part of the Horizon 2020 program. It is steadily exporting its products to a number of European countries even in wartime conditions. It's a success.

Another startup from the portfolio of the business incubator with a similar name, SolarPlex, produces hybrid solar panels that make it possible to simultaneously receive electrical and thermal energy.

We are calling the founder of the startup Oleksiy Kurguzov. He explains that the technology developed by his team makes it possible to complete standard solar panels with unique equipment that allows heating water. People really need the product, but now the company is not in very favorable conditions for its development, because many of its employees went to fight at the front. In addition, investors are also waiting for better times. It's a pity that the situation is like this now...

A very good startup called Maxavi.design is also not producing its products at the moment. And the products of this startup are clothes made of natural materials according to all the canons of the circular economy. Elegant inexpensive women's costumes and dresses. Great design. As the founder of Maxavi.design Mariya Vyrshubska explained, the startup is not functioning now, because the number of orders has decreased significantly due to the war. It's a pity that it happened like that.

There are many interesting startups in the portfolio of the Ukrainian Future. They all have different destinies. I want to believe that as soon as peace returns to the Ukrainian land, all of them will be implemented and become successful. The level of startups is high, namely global.

This is the opinion of Vitaliy Lisovyi, the director of the Ukrainian Future. ZN.UA spoke with him.

— It seems that your business incubator has gone beyond the scope of the Minor Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, under whose auspices it functions: after all, your workers are far from schoolchildren. The founders of startups are serious adults, and some of them operate with serious sums of money.

— We are a division of the Minor Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. We work both with children and, yes, with fully established entrepreneurs. They are interested in attracting investments, and we help them in this, using our experience, expertise and partner network.

— One of your declared goals is to expand the ecosystem of Ukrainian startups with the involvement of the state and business. But is there a real source of money needed by startups starting from scratch?

— There are state tools for supporting startups, and private investments that are attracted for the development of startups, both domestic and foreign. In particular, since 2020 we have been cooperating with Pegasus Tech Ventures, a global venture capital company based in Silicon Valley. This fund is the organizer of the Startup World Cup and is among the startups with a prize fund of 1 million dollars. We are the organizers of the national stage of this competition here in Ukraine. Our employees select the best startup with the help of their expertise, and it goes to the global final.

— Has anyone ever been there?

— Last year, two startups from Ukraine called Kray Technologies and Manna took part in the finals in Silicon Valley. Kray Technologies startup is developing drones for aerial farming, while Manna is a virtual reality solution. They are actively working.

— Another goal you stated is to make entrepreneurial business education accessible to all Ukrainian students. An ambitious goal, it must be said... But why is it only about students in this plan?

— I want to clarify: we do not include in the concept of "student" only the belonging of a person to a certain age category and his education in some university. Our students can be people of different ages. In particular, we will start a training program soon, and our students will be employees and heads of educational institutions, academic supervisors, etc. We also work with high school students and startups that are already formed and need support.

— You plan to conduct business trainings with veterans who want to start their own business. It is very important to switch veterans from war to peace and help them start their own business. So when does it start?

— We will start training when the war is over. We understand how important it is for front-line soldiers to achieve self-realization after the war, and we intend to professionally help them in this.

— There are many interesting startups in the portfolio presented on your website. Do you have any favorites?

— Favorites are determined by the market and investors. We are committed to helping all startups. If a startup is in our portfolio, it means that it has been selected. And we treat everyone with respect. Entrepreneurship and innovation are about risk and total dedication.

— If one goes through the portfolio of startups on your website, it will turn out that some are not functioning. The cause of this state of affairs is called war. There are also active ones, the same SolarGaps, whose blinds, in addition to their main function, also generate electricity. How many such successful startups are currently operating?

— First of all, I would name Yevgen Erik’s (founder) SolarGaps startup. He participated in our programs, took part in the Startup World Cup and the Empowering Future Entrepreneurial Ukraine program, won a million euro grant, attracts investments and works successfully.

I would like to note that all startups presented in the portfolio are either residents of our business incubator or have participated in its programs. Not every startup becomes successful and is implemented right away, that's a reality. One of the most successful startups is a startup called Harmix, which is a service for automatically selecting music for videos. Its founder is Nazar Ponochevnyi, a graduate of the Minor Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. He came to us as a high school student. Recently, he attracted $500,000 in investment from a Canadian fund. Before that, he attracted funds from the Ukrainian Startup Fund and from private investors. Active work in business does not prevent Nazar from studying simultaneously at the National Technical University of Ukraine "Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute" (NTUU KPI) and the University of Toronto.

—In order to get into your business incubator, you should obviously start preparing somewhere from the seventh grade...

— I believe that teaching the basics of entrepreneurship should be in school programs and, I hope, will be. I would like to note that our business incubator was created with the help of Finnish specialists. In Finland, entrepreneurship is taught from secondary school. Of course, not everyone becomes an entrepreneur, but everyone should know the basics of entrepreneurship.

— The last question: how much does it cost?

— Conditions are negotiated with each startup depending on its requests. On average, it is about 5% of the amount of funds that we helped to attract. The cost of training under the training program "Youth startups: development and support tools", which will start in our country on April 4, 2023, is 3,200 hryvnias. Training according to the special course program for teachers of territorial branches of the Minor Academy of Sciences of Ukraine is free.