December 20, Kyiv — A pan-European consortium, composed by renowned tech, funding and business companies, signed a €20 million grant agreement with the European Innovation Council (EIC) for the deployment of an initiative, “Seeds of Bravery” (UASEEDs), aimed at supporting the Ukrainian Tech Ecosystem.
The consortium is now accepting applications for Innovation Services of up to €10,000 per startup. This grant aims to assist innovative tech companies in improving their business model, business plan, or growth strategy.
With a focus on deep tech innovation, the group has earmarked €12 million to support over 200 Ukrainian startups that have been allocated by the European Innovation Council (EIC).
The Innovation Services are the initial part of a comprehensive package of 5 types of support, with a potential grant totaling €60,000. The different types of support will be:
- Innovation Services (up to 10k€)
- Entrepreneurship (restart, relocate, continuity, and women entrepreneurs) (up to 25k€)
- Deep Tech incubation (up to 25k€)
- Rebuilding Ukraine (up to 25k€)
- Deep Tech Scale-Up (up to 50k€)
“Seeds of Bravery” initiative aims to not only provide support but also attract additional investment, promote Ukrainian projects, train entrepreneurs, enter international markets, and integrate the Ukrainian innovation ecosystem into the European network. The initiative also plans to introduce more innovation services, including: IPR and patent analysis, user experience pilots, demand testing or piloting, market analysis/validation, internationalization services (such as participating in conferences, fairs and missions), portfolio management services, investor relations, planning, and digital tools for (equity) crowdfunding campaigns.
An interesting aspect of the “Seeds of Bravery” project is that it is centered around fostering women’s entrepreneurship, with a minimum goal of having 20% of startups and innovative SMEs led or co-led by women.
For more information on the terms and conditions, please follow the link: https://seedsofbravery.eu/
To apply: https://getonepass.eu/opportunities/uaseed
The opening of applications for the remaining “Seeds of Bravery” types of support will be announced shortly.
More about “Seeds of Bravery”:The “Seeds of Bravery” project was initially announced in May 2023. The consortium is coordinated by FundingBox, the leading European platform for deep tech funding distribution to startups. The Ukrainian members of the consortium include the Ukrainian Startup Fund, Vacuum Deep Tech Acceleration, Cyber/nnov8, Techosystem, EEN Ukraine + Academy of Science and YEP.
“We are grateful to the European Innovation Council for entrusting FundingBox with the coordination of this transformative project for Ukraine and the EU ecosystem. Such funding not only stimulates the development of more than 200 innovative teams, but also demonstrates the joint efforts that bring together Ukrainian and European organizations to restore and strengthen the technology ecosystem. FundingBox Accelerator is honored to coordinate this effort leading the Seeds of Bravery consortium to help the Ukrainian tech ecosystem get to the next level.” — Anna Dymowska, CEO, FundingBox Accelerator, Warsaw, Poland.
“In the contemporary landscape, investments in the tech sector function as a source of inspiration, instilling confidence among Ukrainian innovators in the prospect of growth. Together with FundingBox and other consortium members, we are honored to be a part of this initiative, contributing to the recovery of the Ukrainian innovative ecosystem. We are currently actively working on the fastest launch of the project to help unlock the potential of Ukrainian deep tech.” — Pavlo Kartashov, CEO of the Ukrainian Startup Fund.
“We strongly believe that innovations and technology entrepreneurship will be the locomotive of Ukraine’s future economy. Seeds of Bravery consortium is a truly unique pan-European partnership that unites some of the strongest players in the ecosystem, including start-up associations, innovation agencies, academia and accelerators all focused on supporting Ukraine’s innovation community and integrating it into the wider European technological ecosystem. We welcome another major step from the European Commission and European Innovation Council to support Ukraine in creation and growth of breakthrough innovations to address existing local rebuilding and recovery, and global challenges.” — Sviatoslav Sviatnenko, Founder and CEO, cyber/nnov8
The “Seed of Bravery” project complements the ongoing initiatives of the European Research Area for Ukraine (ERA4Ukraine), Horizon4Ukraine and ERC for Ukraine, as well as a special €25 million scholarship scheme under Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions (MSCA) for refugee researchers from Ukraine.
Disclaimer: Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the European Commission can be held responsible for them. UASEEDs project has received funding from the Horizon Europe Framework Programme under grant agreement No 101104445.
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