On March 4, 2026, the Innovation Center of the Kyiv Academic University presented the results of the grant project of the Academ.City startup school – an innovative ecosystem for the development of academic startups of scientific institutions of the NAS of Ukraine.
The final presentation took place at the Ukrainian-Danish Youth House and gathered young and leading scientists, startup founders, entrepreneurs, representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Presidium of the NAS of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Startup Fund, the Ukrainian National Office of Intellectual Property and Innovation, Kyiv City State Administration, and Kyiv Regional Military Administration. Scientists also joined the event online.
The participants discussed the development of academic entrepreneurship, commercialization of scientific results, and mechanisms of interaction between science, business, and government. The discussion demonstrated a high demand for practical tools that help transform scientific ideas into innovative products and startups.
In his welcoming speech, Vice President of the NAS of Ukraine, Academician Oleh Rafalskyi, emphasized the importance of developing an environment that unites youth, education, science, and innovation. He stressed that initiatives like Academ.City are an important example for academic institutions that aim not only to preserve scientific traditions but also to shape a modern innovative future.
The Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development of KSCA, Anatolii Bahan, spoke about the practical cooperation between the NAS of Ukraine and city authorities. According to him, the city supported two important directions in the development of Academ.City – the creation of a roadmap for the science park and a financial development plan. As a result of this interaction, tools aimed at innovative development appeared in the city’s industry and entrepreneurship development program, including an industrial hackathon and a city corporate accelerator.
The Deputy Director of Kyiv Academic University and project manager of Academ.City, Oleksandra Antonyuk, noted that the current results were made possible thanks to the support of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, partner institutions, state and city authorities, as well as the coordinated work of the team. According to her, the project, which began as an ambitious idea, is gradually turning into a full-fledged ecosystem for innovation development.
The Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, Denys Kurbatov, spoke about state initiatives in the field of science and innovation policy. He reported that funding for the scientific sector increased by 41% in 2026 and outlined a number of new support tools, including centers of excellence, project-based postgraduate studies, a state order competition for scientific and technical developments, and the development of the Science City ecosystem. Special attention during the discussion was given to the issue of supporting fundamental science.
Invited experts also shared their vision of the development of academic entrepreneurship during the event. The head of Noosphere Engineering School, Serhii Veretiuk, focused on the role of engineering in transforming scientific knowledge into applied technologies, while the executive director of the Ukrainian Venture and Private Equity Association, Dmytro Kuzmenko, outlined approaches to bringing academic startups to the level of European business. The representative of UKRNOIVI, Yuliana Zukh-Kiprianova, spoke about the importance of IP strategy in startup activities, and representatives of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration and the Ukrainian Cluster Alliance discussed the regional dimension of innovation development.
The central part of the meeting was the presentation of the results of the Academ.City startup school. The project manager, head of the Department of Innovation Management at KAU, Nataliia Harashchenko, reported that the project started in autumn 2024, and its main goal is to involve scientists and student researchers in creating startups, implementing, and commercializing scientific developments.
According to her, the project’s results exceeded initial expectations in many areas. For example, startups attracted financial and other support totaling almost UAH 16 million, whereas initially UAH 500 thousand was planned. More than 1,440 participants joined the startup school events instead of the planned 140, and 127 innovative teams received mentoring and consulting support.
At the same time, as Nataliia Harashchenko emphasized, the most important result of the project is not only quantitative indicators but a change in scientists’ mindset. Participants in the programs increasingly view the results of their own research as a basis for practical application, cooperation with business, and participation in grant initiatives. She named the confidence that scientific results can be commercialized as the main outcome of the startup school’s work.
The presentation also introduced specific directions of the project’s work. In particular, it covered the results of the BOOSTER incubation program, the development of the open hackathon BE FIRST, the mentoring program supporting academic startups, the pilot project JoinNOW – an exchange of ideas and talents, as well as the activities of the Virtual Center for Digital Innovations at KAU. The grant direction, which helps scientists and startups overcome the path from idea to market through participation in international and national competitions, was presented separately.
Among practical examples of successful cooperation between science and business, the collaboration between the Institute of Cybernetics of the NAS of Ukraine and the “Roza” knitwear factory was presented, as well as the story of senior researcher Viktor Kysliuk from the G.V. Kurdyumov Institute of Metal Physics of the NAS of Ukraine, who, after participating in Academ.City programs, formed an international consortium and submitted an application for the Horizon Europe competition.
According to the organizers, in 2026 the Academ.City startup school will develop in several directions simultaneously. It is planned to strengthen consulting, legal, organizational, marketing, and grant support for startups, continue incubation and acceleration programs, and launch a new open innovation program aimed at deepening cooperation between science and business.
The strategic goal of the project is to form a sustainable ecosystem in which science, business, government, and civil society systematically interact, and scientific developments receive a real path to implementation and commercialization.
The event is implemented within the framework of the experimental project of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine on creating a network of startup schools – incubators – accelerators based on higher education institutions and scientific institutions.
According to information from Kyiv Academic University
