On March 2, winners of pre-acceleration program JET29 of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU) were revealed. Rector of TSU, George Sharvashidze, Head of Georgia’s Innovation and Technology Agency, Avtandil Kasradze and representatives of the British Council attended the event.
On February 19-27, teams composed of TSU students underwent a ten-day intensive training course and improved their startup ideas, which were presented during a demo day on February 29.
“The event is being held by TSU Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Center. It is a very good collaboration project; long-term training courses were held for startupers. During the final event today, a 10-minute film was screened showing the entire process of the work. There were a lot of novelties and participants managed to convince future investors in a short period of time,” Rector George Sharvashidze said.
The pre-acceleration program promotes the development of beginning startupers. The program aims at strengthening local innovative technological potential and startup ecosystem.
“We had an idea to support architects through AI in simplifying planning of buildings. We were chosen by two companies: Redberry and Bank of Georgia. It means that we will have an opportunity to have consultations with these companies and they will give us various recommendations,” says Archil Sakevarashvili, MA student in Exact and Natural Sciences. He also noted that trainings helped participants develop their ideas and deepen their knowledge.
Nino Kurdadze, head of TSU Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Center, considers the engagement of successful trainers and best mentors to be one of the main values of the pre-acceleration program. “One of the main values of the pre-acceleration program is the team of trainers, who are successful in their field, and the best mentors who were giving interesting recommendations to participants. We have also revitalized Elevator Pitch,” Nino Kurdadze said.
The training course was led by trainers actively participating in the startup ecosystem, among them Davit Chechelashvili, Nikoloz Gogochuri, Merab Kutsia, Lia Moshiashvili, Nodar Sharabidze and Makhare Merebashvili. Together with trainers, experienced mentors, among them Soso Galumashvili, Levan Ketskhoveli, Irakli Chikava and Giorgi Mirzikashvili were providing recommendations to the participants.
“The Bank of Georgia finds it very important to promote students in various directions. As part of collaboration between Tbilisi State University and the Bank of Georgia, we support their first pre-acceleration program; today a demo day was held at our head office, where a lot of interesting ideas were voiced,” Salome Kvirkvelidze, Bank of Georgia’s brand manager, said.
During the final event of the pre-acceleration program, the participating teams submitted their ideas to the jury composed of prominent representatives of the startup ecosystem.
All the five teams presented at the demo day are the winners. GEPRA, Redberry, Bank of Georgia and GITA awarded special prizes to them. The program and the event are supported by the Bank of Georgia; Georgia’s Innovation and Technology Agency (GITA); British Council’s program Creative Spark.
