The “Seeds of Bravery” project has awarded €1.25m to 38 Ukrainian startups to stimulate innovation in the technology sector in Ukraine. Launched as part of the European Innovation Council (EIC) and led by a consortium of 19 organisations in 12 countries (including the Luxembourg agency Luxinnovation), the funding is part of a two-year, €20m global plan to support Ukrainian technology companies and integrate them into the European Union’s innovation ecosystem.
The list of beneficiaries was unveiled on 30 October and included startups from Ukraine, Estonia, Bulgaria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Each received a grant of between €25,000 and €50,000 depending on the project.
The funds will be allocated through four programmes: “Innovative Entrepreneurship,” to support business continuity and promote women-led enterprises; “Deep Tech Incubators,” for early-stage startups; “Rebuild Ukraine,” aimed at rapid post-war reconstruction; and “Deep Tech Scale-Up & Acceleration,” for companies seeking to develop their prototypes and access new markets. Senior advisor for startup acceleration at Luxinnovation, Inna Perepelytsya, said: “We are pleased to announce these new grantees, particularly the deep tech innovators who continue to pursue innovation despite the challenging conditions of war. We look forward to supporting these grantees with the resources available in the Luxembourg ecosystem and beyond.”
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Among the beneficiaries, the founder of Poly Diagnostics, Myroslav Gebura, a Luxembourg-based company welcomed Luxinnovation’s support. “There would have been no Seeds of Bravery for us without Luxinnovation. We simply did not even know that such a programme was just launched as most of startups and small businesses are preoccupied with the operational day-to-day activities and have limited time to research suitable programmes,” he explained. “Apart from the financial support and visibility, we will have the opportunity to interact with subject matter experts on business development, financial statements, market access, implementation of new IT tools and more. There will be multiple one-on-one meetings and seminars. These events and trainings and interpersonal connections are perhaps even the most important part of the programme,” he added.
The Seeds of Bravery programme has already opened a new series of calls for applications, valid until 5pm on 25 November. Luxinnovation’s EIC project manager, Olena Malchyk, encouraged Ukrainian entrepreneurs to follow the Seeds of Bravery communication channels and to “stay updated on upcoming calls for applications” and other opportunities.
This article was originally published in .