Ukrainian business delegation in #theLÄNDSteinbeis Europa Zentrum supports and accompanies Ukrainian delegation in cooperation with the Enterprise Europe Network

On the joint initiative of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism Baden-Württemberg and the Commissioner for Europe of the Minister of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism Baden-Württemberg, Dr Petra Püchner, the idea was born to organise a delegation trip for Ukrainian start-up companies to Baden-Württemberg. The following call for proposals was aimed at young Ukrainian organisations and met with strong interest. The critical and careful evaluation of the more than 130 applications submitted was carried out by the cooperation partner Enterprise Europe Network Ukraine.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism Baden-Württemberg invited ten outstanding innovative start-ups out of the applicants to the state capital Stuttgart:

Energy Absorbing Breakwater, LLC MaxAh, Vinnytsia National Agrarian University and LLC SPE Katalitprylad from the Energy & Environment sector; Lexberry LLC from the E-Services & FinTech sector; InfusionLight, ClinCaseQuest and RADITECH-ltd from the Life Sciences & Medical Technology sector; INPUT SOFT and Nanit Robot from the Software & IT Security sector.

After careful planning and organisation by Steinbeis Europa Zentrum on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, a programme for sustainable business support and networking of the start-ups was developed.

On Tuesday evening, 27 September 2022, the representatives of the Ukrainian start-ups were personally welcomed by the Commissioner for Europe Dr Petra Püchner. The welcome dinner was sponsored by the Enterprise Europe Network Baden-Württemberg and organised and attended by the Event Team of Steinbeis Europa Zentrum.

On the following days, the company representatives visited the centres for innovation Heilbronn, Mannheim and Karlsruhe, as part of the Start-up BW Discovery Tour, which was organised by bw-i (Baden-Württemberg International).

There the start-ups learned among other things about the "Life Science Accelerator" programme of Technologiepark Heidelberg GmbH, Heidelberg Startup Partners e.V., Mannheim Department of Economic Development and MAFINEX Gründerverbund e.V. The two start-ups Infusion light and ClinCaseQuest applied successfully and receive a twelve-month training programme to get their business of the ground.

The twelve-month programme includes individualised coaching and seminars. The start-ups receive advice and support from mentors, investors and other programme partners. An important goal is to present themselves in investor pitches in order to secure funding.

Ukrainian start-ups pitch at Start-up BW Summit

On Friday, 30.09.2022, the start-ups not only got the chance to present themselves at the Start-up BW Summit 2022, but also proved their commitment by presenting their future-oriented solutions at the Pitch Competition, split into seven sectors. In the E-Services & FinTech sector, Oleksii Serdiuk of Lexberry LLC succeeded in winning the pitch with their online software to help companies reduce the time and money spent on managing intellectual property. Anastasiia Smyk of INPUT SOFT convinced in the field of Software & IT Security with her pitch for a web-based aviation management solution that uses an algorithm to optimise handling processes at airports by conserving resources, reducing costs, and collecting and analysing data. 

Both start-ups received a prize money of 3,000 euros each to support their outstanding achievements. The Minister for Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism of Baden-Württemberg, Dr Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut, expressed her appreciation to the Ukrainian start-up representatives, both at the award ceremony and during an exciting exchange with the individual start-ups at their exhibition stands. The companies were accompanied on site by Dr Petra Püchner and the event team of Steinbeis Europa Zentrum.

Following the motto "The Future is up to us", around 230 start-ups - 60 of them from 20 international ecosystems - presented themselves on 30 September 2022 at the Start-up BW Summit at the Landesmesse Stuttgart; as well as 24 start-up ecosystems and AI initiatives, 70 investors and companies, as well as 20 partners of Start-up BW. The event attracted 3,000 participants and is the highlight for the start-up scene in Baden-Württemberg.

As partner of the Enterprise Europe Network, Steinbeis Europa Zentrum supports the international exchange between SMEs and initiates transnational cooperations to boost innovation across Europe.

Two Ukrainian start-ups in a video: Enterprise Europe Network supports recovery for Ukraine’s SMEs in Germany - YouTube