Deadline Date: March 03, 2026
The IdeasLab is a free accelerator program at Ukrainian Catholic University that helps Ukrainian students turn their ideas into real entrepreneurial projects with guidance, mentorship, and practical support.
The program focuses on hands-on practice, experimentation, mentorship, project funding, and community building to transform ideas into real projects, providing participants with the guidance, resources, and networks necessary to bring their visions to life.
The focus areas of IdeasLab include initial market validation, customer development, marketing and sales strategies, practical , entrepreneurship skills, mentorship from global and local experts, access to grants of up to UAH 200,000, participation in hackathons and pitching events, and building a supportive community for experimentation and growth.
Over 13 weeks, students move through a structured program that begins with identifying and validating business hypotheses, understanding market scale, and defining solutions. Individual mentoring sessions help refine strategies, and progress is evaluated at the first Pitch Day, where up to 10 teams are selected to continue. The next phase emphasizes in-depth customer discovery and value proposition definition, complemented by support from Lead Mentors and a week-long offline hackathon at the UCU campus. At the second Pitch Day, up to 5 teams receive a 50,000 UAH grant, while remaining teams continue developing their projects. The marketing and sales stage focuses on testing the value proposition and creating a Go-to-Market strategy, culminating in a final Pitch Day where one team receives a 150,000 UAH grant and potential acceleration at the University of Notre Dame.
After the program, participants may access the University of Notre Dame’s acceleration program, attend individual workshops with program lecturers, and have the opportunity to become ambassadors of IdeasLab. The program is open to Ukrainian students from any field of study and any Ukrainian or international university, welcoming individuals and teams of up to five people who are eager to test ideas, take risks, and build innovative projects.
IdeasLab believes in investing in youth entrepreneurship as a driver for economic growth and innovation. By supporting student-led projects with mentorship, funding, and practical guidance, the program ensures that promising ideas move beyond the page and into tangible, impactful startups that contribute to the future of Ukraine.
For more information, visit Ideas Center UCU.
