To empower Ukrainian businesses to accelerate their growth and to enable them to structurally incorporate social impact as part of their business strategy.

The broader goal of the Program is to integrate technology solutions to foster a social impact economy and businesses with social impact in post-war Ukraine that could bring an additional USD 250 million to Ukraine's GDP over the next 5 years.

The Acceleration Program offers to boost enterprises and help to develop impact strategy:

• unique 9-month equity-free virtual program
• free access to global tech resources
• 30 hours of dedicated time with mentors
• hundreds of experts and coaches from leading international companies and successful start-ups
• 2 companies can win up to €20,000 grant provided by Ukrainian Social Venture Fund under the “Collaborate for Impact” project, funded by the European Union and implemented in partnership with EVPA
• connection to top investors

The program will cover fundamentals of the impact economy:

• Impact economy and the benefits it brings to companies, consumers and society
• Leading business with social impact: understanding theory of change and expected outcomes, impacts and outputs, KPIs and how to report it
• Scaling and export strategies in order to effectively grow business in and outside of Ukraine
• Social impact and fundraising

As well as general business topics:

• Commercial and b2b partnership development
• Marketing, branding and positioning
• Human resources
• Business operations
• Finance and accounting
• Fundraising and pitching to investors

Active enterprises that are registered in Ukraine and aspire to have an impact strategy as part of the core strategy or are committed to integrate it.

Up to 25 teams will be selected to participate in the program.

Legal entity

The enterprise has to be registered and has been operating in Ukraine for at least one year. Enterprises should submit copies of registration certificates.

Financial activity and stability

The business model of the enterprise demonstrates the potential for financial stability and further development. The enterprise should submit its tax reporting for the last 12 months.

Team

The enterprise has an enthusiastic team of founders and employees who are invested in the success of the project, are open to mentoring, and are interested in the development of the company (at least 3 people). The list of employees should be presented together with a description of their key role. All team members participating in the acceleration program should be able to communicate and to conduct business in both Ukrainian and English.

Business model

The business model of an enterprise is a model with proven profitability and market opportunities and can be scaled to other cities and regions of the country or globally. The enterprise should present a business plan with a realistic forecast for the company to achieve a certain level of profitability.

Product readiness

The enterprise has a product/service/program already on the market, or ready to launch on the market within 6 months from starting the acceleration program.

Model innovation

The proposed business model, product, or service is innovative in solving a particular problem. The presence of an innovative component increases the chances of being selected for participation in the accelerator program.

Scalability potential

The business model can be scaled to other cities, regions of the country or globally.

Ethics

The enterprise has ethics guidelines and follows ethics norms and principles in how they conduct their business, including in their reporting.

Impact

The enterprise should either have a formalized impact mission (goal) OR have intention and be committed to pivot their business model(s)to prioritize social impact efforts alongside the profits and be willing to codify that in governance documents. While the acceleration program will help the participant crystallize, formalize and define a measurement approach for the social impact, the program applicants should have a broad idea(s) of what type of social impact / cause / challenge they want to help address.

Program commitment

Ability and willingness to attend all required classes, workshops and practice sessions and complete required homework assignments.

Sectors

Enterprises from all sectors can apply if they believe the program would be relevant to them and they aspire to create more social impact. An additional advantage will be for innovative tech solutions and/or those that meet the challenges of time. Priority will be given to participants from the following areas:

• Energy
• Agriculture
• Healthcare
• Pharmaceutical industry
• IT
• Cybersecurity
• Infrastructure
• Chemical industry
• Construction industry 
• Logistics 
• Services (e.g. education, ecommerce, innovative retail, social services / work with vulnerable groups, culture preservation and promotion, etc) 
• Finance 
• Customer goods
• Ecology (e.g. water purification, recycling, etc)

• January 16, 2023 — Application window opens
• February 28, 2023 — Deadline for application
• March 1 — March 25, 2023 — Application review & interviews with shortlisted applicants
• April 1, 2023 — All participants informed about their status
• April 17, 2023 — Program kick off
• December 2023 — Demo Day