The winners of the Do Your Own business idea competition have been announced. 80 winning projects were selected from among 616 applications from 15 regions of Ukraine.
Grant recipients include veterans and their families, IDPs, and owners of relocated businesses. The winners are businesses that produce handmade toys and craft cheeses, develop greenhouses and shock freeze berries, process bee products and ecotourism, provide aesthetic medical services, and breed crayfish. Some of these projects are scalable, while others are launched from scratch. About UAH 10 million will be allocated for the implementation of all business ideas. The amount of one grant is up to UAH 100 thousand.
Oksana Shtepenko, an immigrant from Lyman, was able to open a tea shop and bake craft bread in Zvenyhorodka, Cherkasy region, thanks to Do Your Own.
"The real phenomenon of this competition is that it is a support for people who are struggling to get their business back on its feet, which has been affected by the war, or to start their own business in a crisis. That is why, in addition to financial support, the winners of the competition will receive additional opportunities from the Foundation: training, experience exchange, and access to the professional business community from all over Ukraine. For example, we invite previous winners to important forums and conferences where we share our expertise; help them raise additional funding; and offer other opportunities from big business partners or friendly foundations. We are forming our own sustainable ecosystem for the development of local business in Ukraine," comments Tetiana Volochai, Director of the MHP-Hromadi Charitable Foundation.
This year, one of the conditions of the competition was 100% co-financing from the applicant. That is, the winner must invest their own 100 thousand UAH in their business for the 100 thousand UAH received. This will demonstrate that the entrepreneur believes in their project and is willing to invest in it.
Mykola Malchenko moved his business from Sloviansk to Dnipro and plans to scale it further thanks to a business idea competition from the MHP-Hromadi Foundation
"Every month, Ukrainian and foreign foundations, large businesses, and philanthropists offer a number of grants. However, according to several surveys, a third of small entrepreneurs do not know how and where to look for funding for their own business. That's why every year we teach and show the way for local brave souls to run their own business. Moreover, we continue to support them even after the grant funds have been used. After all, the development of SMEs in Ukraine is the development of communities and the development of those people who are ready to develop their business and take responsibility for it," Volodymyr Panchenko, Head of National Projects at MHP-Hromadi Charitable Foundation.
This year's expert council team included Yuriy Gladkyi, founder and CEO of Grape brand marketing agency; Serhiy Poznyak, financial and investment expert with 20 years of experience, chairman of the Association of ATO Veterans; and Dmytro Zozulia, deputy chairman of the board for investment activities at MHP. They analyzed business ideas in detail and evaluated them in terms of sustainability, innovation, and scalability.
Yuriy Gladkyi: "What I have noted for myself is that not all local entrepreneurs know how to ‘play’ value-added. Few entrepreneurs think in terms of brands and marketing needs, although they have many conditions for this: from geographical location to a truly innovative idea. Today, the formula "processed and sold" does not work. That's why I, as a marketer, was looking for projects that really have added value for the company, the community, and Ukraine. The ones that would turn into a great story. And by supporting this story, we could proudly add the label "Made in Ukraine."
Sergey Poznyak: "I am glad that among the winners were family members of veterans and veteran entrepreneurs who went to the front. After all, those guys and girls who are at war and have left their businesses should count on their support when they return. It is significant that such projects received some of the highest marks. This confirms the capacity of our soldiers, who not only work effectively at the front, but also that they are the driving force behind the economy and the reconstruction of our Ukraine."
Dmytro Zozulya: "MHP is constantly evolving and has been actively transforming for several years. Along the way, we have already gained a lot of experience that we are ready to share. All the projects of the Do Your Own competition have been on the radar of MHP's investment direction. Those who demonstrate success will be able to apply for both additional funding from the company and expert support on the way to growth. We are interested in creating a strong business ecosystem around us. The more successful people there are in the country, the more successful Ukraine will be.
In the more than 2 years of the great war, almost 2 million new individual entrepreneurs and more than a million companies have appeared in Ukraine. At the same time, the number of newly created companies is five times higher than the number of those that have ceased operations. The organizers of the "Do Your Own" business idea competition are convinced that such competitions will help to increase these statistics.