Youthquake launches national Ukrainian startup incubator with over UAH 11 million in grants
Wednesday, 19 August 2026, 04:43
From classroom ideas to investor pitches, a new national program is giving young Ukrainians three months to test whether their startup ambitions can take off.
This is reported by the Ministry of Digital Transformation.
The Diia.Business network of entrepreneur support centers, in partnership with the Ministry of Digital Transformation, is launching Youthquake, a national business incubator for young people. The program will help participants turn their ideas into products, find mentors, test business hypotheses, and compete for startup grant funding.
Together with the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the Diia.Business network of entrepreneur support centers is launching Youthquake, a national business incubator – a program where young people build their own startups. Find mentors, develop market-ready products, and compete for a grant fund of more than UAH 11 million.
– according to a statement by the Ministry of Digital Transformation
Who Can Join Youthquake
The Youthquake national business incubator is designed for two age groups: school students aged 13 to 17 and university students aged 18 to 25. The organizers plan to involve more than 1,000 young people from different regions of Ukraine in the program.
The program will last three months. During this time, teams will work on their ideas, analyze the needs of prospective customers, create the first versions of their products, and prepare to present them to experts and potential investors.
For school students, the educational component will focus on the fundamentals of entrepreneurship: studying customer needs, shaping a business idea, and building a project structure. Student teams will focus on more complex tasks, including market research, hypothesis testing, and MVP development – that is, creating a minimum viable version of a product to test with real users.
What Startups Can Be Developed in the Business Incubator
Youthquake participants will be able to choose one of six areas in which to develop their startups:
- Digital Products – mobile applications, web platforms, marketplaces, and IoT services;
- Manufacturing Projects – physical products, proprietary brands, and innovative manufacturing solutions;
- Service Solutions – B2B products, educational, healthcare, and technology services;
- STEAM / Science-intensive Projects – science and technology projects, research, and experiments;
- GreenTech – solutions in sustainable energy, waste recycling, and environmental protection;
- AgroTech – technology solutions, automation, and analytics tools for agribusiness.
Youthquake Grant Fund Exceeds UAH 11 Million
After the training phase and interim pitching sessions, 40 teams will receive financial support. The total grant fund of the Youthquake national business incubator exceeds UAH 11 million.
The funds will be distributed among teams across several categories:
- 10 teams in the GreenTech category will receive UAH 207,500 each;
- 4 school projects will be able to secure UAH 250,000 each;
- 4 student teams will receive UAH 500,000 each;
- Lviv City Council will fund 20 local initiatives with UAH 200,000 each.
Program Finale and Grand Demo Day
The best teams will present their developments to investors and experts at Grand Demo Day. The final will feature top prizes for the winners: UAH 500,000 for the school student team and UAH 1.5 million for the student team.
Applications to participate in the Youthquake national business incubator can be submitted through September 18, 2026, inclusive. The program is intended to become a platform for young people seeking hands-on experience in creating startups and developing their own entrepreneurial projects.
- Ukraine launched a pilot ‘This Is My Business’ on July 27, 2026 to mentor and train youth from frontline regions with courses, mentorship, mental health support and access to state grants.
- Ukraine to launch an Online Entrepreneur Cabinet on Diia.Business platform, offering personalized support and state programs for small and medium businesses.
