The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine officially launched Ukrainian National Startup Fund – a public initiative to support innovation projects, informed fund’s representatives at a dedicated press conference.
What is Ukrainian National Startup Fund
It’s a state organization which will issue grants to Ukrainian startups. The fund’s resources now amount to UAH 390 million allocated by the state treasury.
Initially, the fund will use this money to disperse grants to the tune of $25k – $75k. During the subsequent stages the most successful projects will be able to get soft loans.
There’s a 24-month implementation deadline for each project. During the program the fund will monitor the progress of projects and provide advice. The fund reps also noted that they are not going to co-finance projects together with external investors.
Fund’s structure
The organization will be managed by Supervisory Board, which consists of seven persons:
- Alena Kosharnaya, Horizon Capital
- Lesia Sevruk, ECG
- Viktoria Tigipko, TA Ventures
- Charles Whitehead, Cornel Tech
- Yurii Geletei, Ministry of finances
- Aleksandr Ryzhenko, State E-Government Agency
- Dmitriy Shymkiv, ‘Darnytsia’
Project selection will be handled by the tender committee comprising seven persons. There will also be an Expert Council (10 persons) and Mission control center.
What kind of startups will receive funding
The financing will be provided to small and macro enterprises, as well as individual entrepreneurs.
Here are a few of the main criteria categories:
- Innovativeness
- Commercialization
- Team and Finance
- Resilience
Each category is rated on a five-point scale. Fund’s representatives didn’t reveal specific requirements for startups. All we know is that to quality projects must have Ukrainian registration, which can be changed afterwards.
Selection procedure
Applications will be collected on the official website, which will be launched shortly. Then, the Tender Committee will process the applications, and after that a pitch session will be held in real time.
