12 December 2022
On December 13, an international competition of pitch presentations (final exam) was held as part of the training course on innovation management "4InnoPipe course". 2 teams from Academ.City ecosystem became the winners of the pitch competition!
The course was implemented online at the University of Reutlingen and allowed to gain knowledge on the commercialization of scientific projects under the mentorship of leading professors from Germany, Finland, Croatia and Ukraine. From the very beginning, the course focused on a pronounced practical orientation - participants work on ideas in teams, starting with the study of social or environmental problems, identifying the problem that a particular innovation can solve, continuing to develop a value proposition and business model and ending with mastering the art of pitch presentation, The best experts of the 4INNOPIPE project team, as well as other teachers and trainers from Germany, England, Spain, Ukraine, Greece, USA, Switzerland and Denmark were involved in teaching.
All projects were presented in the following categories:
1. Best impact-oriented project (anything related to social and environmental impact)
2. Best digital business model (digital products)
3. Female Role Model (inspiring female founders)
4. Best Pitch (just a cool project and a cool pitch)
The competition was attended by 10 startup projects. Two of them were Ukrainian teams: BAI-Si (Institute of Environmental Geochemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine) and Gravity (Kyiv Academic University) - won in the presented nominations!
The nomination "Best impact-driven project" was won by the innovation from the KAU partners - scientists of the Academ.City Ecocenter, created on the basis of the Institute of Environmental Geochemistry. BAI-Si is a unique immunoprotector for plants that increases yields even in desert areas while reducing water use by up to 50%. Made of silicon (essentially sand), it retains water in the plant and makes it stronger and healthier. BAI-Si also allows up to 50% reduction in the amount of chemical fertilizers used. It is ideal for agriculture in the countries of the Arabian Peninsula, as it uses free raw materials and allows growing environmentally friendly plants in the desert with significant water savings. Given that today the excessive use of chemicals is incredibly depleting soils around the world, the scalability of such a solution to a large number of countries is beyond doubt. Congratulations to the team and the author of the development Valeria Kovach on the victory!
The second Ukrainian team Gravity is an audio-reactive visual solution that generates real-time graphics for VR glasses, aimed at helping to solve psychological problems such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder. Congratulations to Anastasia Lutsenko and Alex Romanovsky for winning the Female Role Model and The Audience Award!
Implementation of innovations, the transition from an idea to a viable business that meets the needs of society at a qualitatively new level, is impossible without special skills in product concept development, business modeling, evaluation and development of innovative business.
Therefore, within the framework of the 4InnoPipe project, KAU will continue to provide educational opportunities for students with breakthrough ideas.
