The great goal of local tourism. The case of Olena Kasyan, optimized marketplace OK Town

The development of the startup ecosystem in Ukraine creates opportunities. Whereas recently it was only possible to participate in a hackathon or try to get into a foreign business incubator, now it is not a problem for startups at any stage of development to find a Ukrainian-language acceleration or incubation program.

In this ecosystem, universities have always been and will always be an important component, because the best minds and innovative ideas are among young people. Over the past few years, Ukraine has been boasting examples of student startups: Elomia is a psychologist bot that promptly helps people with depression and anxiety and was founded by students and graduates of Kharkiv Polytechnic University. Another Kharkiv-based startup, IOON, has developed a device that turns water into an antiseptic. GiftHub, a service for automatic gift selection, was launched by students of Kyiv National University. These are far from being isolated examples. Their secret is not only in innovative thinking, the right attitude to mistakes, and the desire to work, but also in the startup environment they have found themselves in.

The new Entrepreneurial University program for students aims to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem at universities. The program is being implemented by the national project Diia.Business in cooperation with the YEP network of startup incubators, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Startup Fund, and with the support of the USAID Competitive Economy of Ukraine Program. The main goal of the project is to bring university entrepreneurship in Ukraine to a qualitatively new level and launch a trend of startups among young people and students.

Students from 64 universities in 29 Ukrainian cities have already completed the innovative entrepreneurship course. Diia.Business with partners changes the interaction between the university and students: they gain practical knowledge in working on their own projects and are inspired by the entrepreneurial culture. We are very grateful that the YEP network of startup incubators is implementing the Entrepreneurial University initiative. We are confident that the project will create a new entrepreneurial culture and community at various university levels in Ukraine.

Valeria Ionan

Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation for European Integration

The first phase of the project started in the fall semester of 2020 - all universities that have completed the YEP application began teaching the course "Innovative Entrepreneurship and Startup Project Management". During this time, about 3000 students have worked on more than 400 ideas! It is significant that not only students are interested in creating startups, but also teachers.

Which startup ideas won and made it to the final of the university startup competition? Three winning teams exclusively share their cases and plans with Diia.Business.

The great goal of local tourism. The case of Olena Kasyan, optimized marketplace OK Town

OK Town is a team of students from Kyiv and Sumy working on creating a new travel marketplace.

About the product.

This is an optimized marketplace for services and local tourism. The goal of the product is to create a new method of advertising in the city.

We collect all small and large businesses in the tourism, local tourism and services sector and combine them into one network to generate order traffic from our customers. We are starting with the city of Sumy and Sumy region, and then we will scale to the whole of Ukraine.

The team works with B2B clients (i.e. businesses), but the end consumer is people of almost any age (from 16-18 years old to 60 years old). "When we advertise workshops, it can be clay modeling courses or evening gatherings in a cafe with a glass of wine and talk about art. We want to reach as many young and old people as possible, and help them find the kind of recreation that suits them."

How does OK Town differ from its competitors?

Those who have been on the market for a long time focus on big cities: Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa... We focus on all of them - regional centers and even small towns. There is a lot of historical heritage, a large number of excursions, and the opportunity to go camping and other types of recreation. In this way, we want to boost local tourism throughout Ukraine.

The product 'sfeature is an online audio tour developed by OK Town! for a mobile application linked to Google maps. That is, any tourist can buy an online tour and take a tour to hear about various sights and places.

The team

Currently, the team consists of three people: Artem Rudichenko (student of the Moscow State University, Accounting and Audit), Yanina Grechikhina (KNUTE, Hotel and Restaurant Business), and Olena Kasyan (Sumy State University, Advertising and Public Relations, Public Administration). This team was formed at the first stage of the Entrepreneurial University and reached the finals. Now five more people want to join the team.

How did the idea come about?

Before joining the Entrepreneurial University project, Olena Kasyan had been working on the idea for more than 2 years. However, she received disappointing feedback on the idea.

There was a problem, but it was not visible.

People said that no one needed it and who was engaged in local tourism at all. And at the same time, people asked: "Where can I find it? Where do I call?"

Previously, the project was focused on museums, but now it has refocused on local tourism and small business development. Now everything has coincided: the timing, the competition, the Entrepreneurial University, and the pitch - the project has completely found where it will go. "We have found our 'track' and are planning to launch. Before that, we had been working on it for a long time but were afraid to launch it."

How will it work?

Initially, the team had an idea for a typical website, but then the idea transformed into a marketplace. And now everyone will be able to publish their local travel offer. "As soon as we adjust all the filters to make it convenient for businesses to publish and for customers to search for services, and set up accounts, we will start making a mobile app right away."

The app is the final goal, as it will allow customers to link to Google Maps and choose their vacation and download online tours by geolocation. "In six months, if we gain momentum, we want to launch an API to simplify work with larger businesses. This means that we will be able to synchronize with their websites and they will not need to constantly post tours to us - it will be done automatically."

Plans and MVP

The team is currently working on an MVP (Minimum viable product) - a product with the minimum functionality that can be given to users for use. It will be a website where you can find local tours of Sumy region. A person enters the marketplace, sets the filter that interests them the most, and chooses something specific from the proposed list of businesses on the site. Then they see a list of everything that is included in the price, compare different results, and can immediately contact the company to discuss the details.

To get acquainted with the prototype of the marketplace and give feedback: https: //oktown2021.wixsite.com/oktown.

The team is currently at the YEP!Starter incubator. "When we understand our prospects, we are eager to participate in the USF competition, which funds young startups and helps them grow. We also need money to create a prototype, so my team and I are investing our own money at our own risk because we believe in this idea," Olena says.

A gallery of fragrances reminiscent of important events - Zarina Nazriieva tells about the Memoria startup

How often do you look through your photos and videos in the gallery? Do you like to recall warm moments and feel emotions like in the photo?

The second-year students of the Faculty of Maritime Economics of the Admiral S.O. Makarov National University of Shipbuilding presented the idea of a startup. Makarov National University of Shipbuilding presented the idea of a startup that allows you to travel in time.

Memoria is an idea for an app where you can collect photos, videos, music, smells, and link them to specific life events.

About the idea

Zarina came up with the idea for the startup during a conversation with a friend. They were discussing perfume, and suddenly it occurred to Zarina that it would be nice to not only collect memories in the form of photos or videos, but also add the scents of the perfume you wore that day. Zarina believes that smells are closely related to emotions. And that a particular smell can enhance any memory.

How does it work?

You download the app, set up access to the materials you allow the app to use, and the time when the app will ask about the perfume and the importance of the event. After a while, the app will offer you to immerse yourself in memories: view photos and videos, use the same perfume. You have to inhale the scent to relive the memories more emotionally.

Trading in other people's memories is a good idea.

this is what Zarina's friend said when she pitched her idea to her friends.

About the startup's products

In addition to the app, Zarina is thinking about offering consumers a collection of perfumes in small bottles, as well as home fragrances.

How did you work on the startup?

At the beginning of the semester, the curator said that they now had a new subject - innovative entrepreneurship. As part of the course, students studied using YEP materials and methodologies and worked on their own projects. The group initially had about 10 startup ideas. Zarina had previously worked on another project, but decided to develop her own idea. Zarina works in a team with her classmate Nikita Kolyada. He will be responsible for technical aspects and design, and Zarina will be responsible for setting up processes.

What are your plans?

Next, the startup team will take part in the YEP!Starter incubation program, and in August they will go to the Startup Day innovation conference in Estonia.

New future of solar energy - Warm Wall project case study

An environmentally friendly and cost-effective solution for home heating is something that the Warm Wall startup team of teachers from Oles Honchar Dnipro National University has been working on for over a year. They already have business experience and a prototype of their project - it was just a matter of finding the right opportunity.

The impetus for the further development of the project was the Entrepreneurial University initiative, where the authors studied together with their own students and decided to try their hand at a national startup competition. And for good reason - Warm Wall became the best teaching startup, got into the YEP!Starter incubation program, and won a trip to the Startup Day innovation conference to be held in Estonia in August 2021. Volodymyr Statsenko, one of the startup's inspirers, tells us about the startup.

About the team and background

The startup has an established team of six university professors: Volodymyr and Yuriy Statsenko, Lilia Nakashidze, Mykhailo Shein, Vitaliy Strashko, and Nadiia Fedoriatska. They already have experience working in the national market: in the past, the team worked on the high-tech project Plazmofor to improve the performance of automobile engines.

What is the goal of the project?

The startup's slogan is very simple and at the same time very ambitious: "Think globally, act locally!" So, they are starting to fight global warming on the local, Ukrainian market. Warm Wall technology promises to reduce the consumption of fossil energy sources and carbon dioxide emissions. This is good news for both environmentalists and those who want to consume and pay less for electricity.

We see the project's further development in the widespread implementation of our concept across the planet. It will be similar to the introduction of the peaceful atom, but completely safe for humans.

says Volodymyr.

How does the technology work?

Warm Wall turns walls and roofs into large-area solar systems. Thus, it simultaneously provides thermal insulation and converts solar energy into heat and electricity. The sun heats the panels all year round: in summer, the thermal accumulator accumulates energy, and in winter, it releases it. This reduces the cost of air conditioning in the warm season and heating the building in the cold.

According to a study of the startup market, there are currently virtually no analogues to their invention. And those that do exist are inferior in terms of price, energy conversion efficiency, or multifunctionality.

Plans for the future

The plans are almost as global as the goal: to complete the YEP!Starter incubation program, attend the Startup Day innovation conference in Estonia, and successfully and on a large scale enter the Ukrainian and, later, the global markets.

How to join the project?

In the spring, about 30 more universities plan to join the project, and the national student and faculty startup competition promises to become a good tradition in the future.

If you are a teacher and want to join the initiative, fill out the form on the YEP website and a program manager will contact you within a week.

The Entrepreneurial University initiative helps to develop entrepreneurial talent and skills among students and teachers. In turn, this increases the entrepreneurial culture in Ukraine. An important value of the project is that students can create their own startup, and in the long run, this will contribute to the emergence of new Ukrainian products and services that will be known worldwide.

Andrii Remizov

Head of the online component of the national entrepreneurship development project Diia.Business