Demo Day (project presentations) of the JustStart start-up acceleration programme, organized within the joint project of the Youth Affairs Agency of Uzbekistan and the UN joint programm "Youth for Social Harmony in Fergana valley", will be held on March 30 in the Digital City in Andijan, where start-ups will present the results of 4-month work within the accelerator.
The acceleration programme aims at providing theoretical and practical support to young people from the Fergana valley aged 16 to 30 in starting their own businesses and developing entrepreneurial skills. Through online training and mentoring, assistance was provided in the preparation of innovative projects in the areas of IT, agriculture, ecology, consulting, services, logistics, education, medicine, linguistics, women's entrepreneurship, fashion and design.
For four months, JustStart participants studied the market, the basics of marketing and strategic planning, increased financial and legal literacy, learned how to effectively build a business strategy, learned what Lean Startup, Speed Mentoring, Mock Sales are, and worked on prototype - minimum viable product (MVP). They were assisted by coaches, mentors and trackers who have international experience in such areas as: accounting and audit, tax consulting and financial analysis, international and commercial law, consumer engagement, development of start-up initiatives, methods of idea formation, art therapy, development of creativity, as well as leadership skills. They analyzed each project individually and gave them further instructions.
In addition, within the accelerator, the participants had the opportunity to visit a manufacturing enterprise online, discuss and consult with successful entrepreneurs and experts of Uzbekistan on improving their startup projects.
In total 268 applications were selected to participate in the accelerator: 85 were received from the youth of the Andijan region, 117 from the Fergana region and 66 from the Namangan region. 83 participants successfully reached the final stage, 23 of them are female startupers. The most successful 34 teams are given the opportunity to participate in the final and present their projects.
The event will take place in offline and online formats, where the finalists will pitch (short presentation) and be assessed by a jury consisting of business representatives, specialized agencies and experienced experts on startups and innovations. The top 10 projects will receive grants of up to $ 5,000 from the UN Peacebuilding Fund for further implementation of start-ups.
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