Nazar Podolchak, Director of Tech StartUp School of Lviv Polytechnic National University, tells us about new opportunities to work on projects, about the platform where inventors and investors find each other, as well as the running of one of the three largest startup projects.
– How did it all begin when you started establishing Tech StartUp School? What is its main mission?
– The main mission of the School is the development and support of innovators and scientists, a stream of innovations. We want to show students, teachers, scientists as well as young people and the general community, that now it is trendy, necessary, and, after all, it is profitable to create innovations through such tools as networking, coworking, various challenges, etc.
It all started with the idea to establish a school for start-ups and we shared this idea with the rector of Lviv Polytechnic National University. He agreed and we started working in a small room in the main building, but in 2–3 months it was decided to begin the reconstruction of the building on 2, Kolessa Street.
– Who does Tech StartUp School operate for?
– The main audience is, of course, students. We are trying to develop their entrepreneurial, innovation and inventive thinking skills.
The second group is scholars. We want to show that science can bring money if there is a possibility to commercialize and transform scientific achievements. And the third group – consumers and investors. They can come to us and test new developments, which we have a lot. We collaborate with investors who are looking for where to invest. And, as it turned out, there are many of them.
– What are people ready to invest in today?
– The IT sphere is most effective. It does not require significant investments, except for virtual and augmented reality products, where there must be powerful video cards, which are quite expensive.
The second segment is biotech startups.
And the third, which is inherent in Lviv Polytechnic, is mechanical startups.
– What events are you ready to invite businessmen in 2019?
– We have a huge project with British Council, which is aimed at attracting 500 entrepreneurs, scientists, students under the age of 35, that is, young people who speak English at least at the level B1 from all over the country, to study entrepreneurship and development of startups. If they do not know language, we will provide an opportunity to study it.
Later we train project participants and provide them with mentors. At the end of the selection we plan to send 10 best projects to the UK. The project will be carried out for 5 years.
In addition, on May 23–25, 2019, together with the city we hold the Innovative Spring conference. This will be an event for scholars. It will feature an exhibition, inspirational stories from successful people and project presentations.
