RESEARCHER OF THE DESIGN AUTOMATION DEPARTMENT TOOK PART IN “STARTUP BREAKTHROUGH 5.0” ACCELERATION PROGRAM
The “Tech StartUp School” innovation space of Lviv Polytechnic National University has held a comprehensive acceleration program, “STARTUP BREAKTHROUGH 5.0”, which provided mentorship and support to innovators at all stages — from idea development to business modeling, investment search, and commercialization of innovative projects.
This program was designed to involve students, postgraduate students, professors, and staff of higher education institutions and research institutes of Ukraine to support and develop promising startup ideas, as well as to create minimum viable product (MVP) prototypes.
The Design Automation Department of KNURE was successfully represented at the event by Assistant Professor, PhD Ivan Hahanov.
He took an active part in training sessions, expert meetings, and mentoring consultations of the program, which covered key aspects of building an innovative business:
- In-depth analysis of target markets;
- Modern business modeling for startup projects;
- Financial planning and fundraising;
- Effective strategies for communication and product pitching.
Based on the results of the training, Ivan Hahanov gained valuable practical knowledge in the field of technological entrepreneurship and received an official certificate of successful completion of the acceleration course.
Stages of the “STARTUP BREAKTHROUGH 5.0” Program:
The initiative lasted for several months in a hybrid format and included the following key stages:
- November 2025 — core acceleration program;
- November-December 2025 — specialized expert meetings;
- November 2025 – February 2026 — MVP development in modern innovation laboratories;
- January-February 2026 — individual Peer-2-Peer mentorship with leading Ukrainian and international experts;
- March 2026 — final DemoDay, where teams presented their startups to investors.
Contribution to Sustainable Development (SDGs)
The participation of department representatives in such intensive training directly contributes to the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and Goal 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), by integrating academic knowledge into the real sector of the economy, commercializing scientific developments, and advancing modern technological entrepreneurship in Ukraine.
We sincerely congratulate Ivan Hahanov on successfully upgrading his qualifications in the field of innovation and commercialization of scientific research! We wish him the successful application of this experience to new technological projects of the Design Automation Department!