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CIG and the Odessa Polytechnic University announced the winners of the CIG R&D LAB Education and Scholarship Program

17
October
2017

4 projects have become the winners of the 2nd stage of the Education and Scholarship Program of Chernovetskyi Investment Group and the Odessa National Polytechnic University - CIG R&D LAB. The Competition Commission made such decision following the results of the presentations (pitches) of the participants' projects.

Under the CIG R&D LAB program, the students and young scientists from the Computer Systems Institute, which is а part of the University, will receive an annual scholarship and expert support from Chernovetskyi Investment Group. At the first stage, 21 project teams submitted their applications for participation in the project. The Competition Commission selected 10 of them, whose representatives were invited to hold their presentations (pitches) at the 2nd stage of the program.

During the academic year, the scholarship holders will work on the projects under CIG mentoring and expert support and report on their progress. In June 2018, the Commission will determine the most successful project out of four scholarship holders` projects. The winner will receive financial support for the development of his/her project.

"We annually hold a competition for student startups, but we implemented a program under support of the investment fund at our university for the first time. Many thanks and respect to the partner company, because this is a real investment in the future, so and in no other way you can get ready products. Everyone knows that the initial stage is the most difficult one in the startups. Specialists call it the "valley of death", because more than 90% do not experience this period. The way from idea to prototype is very difficult and among other things, requires finance. We thank the fund, which has found the opportunity to support student-led projects and help to come through this difficult way. Once there is a prototype, then it will be possible to find both mentors and investors for its promotion. I wish all participants to show the results that we will be proud of, "- Sergey Nesterenko, the vice-rector of Odessa National Polytechnic University, said during his speech at a press conference.

For his part, CIG Managing Partner Volodymyr Kryvko emphasized that the main goal of the project is a support of talented Ukrainian students, first of all, an expert support. "We intend to create conditions for the program participants to implement their projects. Today we invest in IT projects around the world, among them there are those which were founded in Ukraine, and now they have an international recognition. And we do believe that there could be much more similar projects. So our contribution is an expert and financial support of those who may become a pride of the whole country tomorrow", - added Volodymyr Kryvko.

According to the results of the presentations, the following projects have been selected for participation in the CIG R&D LAB program:

We would like to remind that the Memorandum between CIG and the Odessa National Polytechnic University on the launch of the Education and Scholarship Program was signed in August 2017. Details: https://goo.gl/NcdY9m

Chernovetskyi Investment Group (CIG) — one of the largest investment companies in the CIS market, was founded in 2013, the investment potential is more than $750 million. The company's portfolio includes such Ukrainian IT-companies as: Eda.ua, Doc.ua and Zakaz.ua. The latter has become the programme member of the world-famous accelerator Techstars in Boston. More information at http://cig.vc/

The Odessa National Polytechnic University (ONPU) was founded in September 1918. Today about 20 000 students, interns, postgraduates and doctoral students study in the ONPU, about 4000 instructors, researchers, engineers and technicians work there. Among them there are 57 academicians and corresponding members of state and branch Academies of Sciences of Ukraine, more than 120 professors and Doctors of Sciences, about 450 associate professors and Candidates of Sciences, 21 eminent educators and an honored worker of science and technology of Ukraine, 13 academicians of international Academies. The University has prepared the graduates for more than 110 countries all over the world. More information at http://opu.ua