For the third consecutive year, educational and innovation initiatives launched with support from Gennadii Butkevych and BGV Group Management have helped students at Zhytomyr Polytechnic State University turn their ideas into cutting-edge technology solutions.

The partnership between BGV and Zhytomyr Polytechnic focuses on advancing education, research, student innovation, and technology entrepreneurship. One of its key initiatives is the BGV Hardware Accelerator, an accelerator program for student technology teams and early-stage startups. The program combines the university’s engineering resources, real-world business expertise, and mentorship to help participants turn ideas into working products and technology prototypes.

BGV’s support for the Hardware Accelerator is part of the company’s long-term commitment to advancing science, engineering, and technology entrepreneurship in Ukraine. The company believes that investing in young technology teams helps build an innovation ecosystem capable of creating globally competitive products.

The program’s second cohort launched in December 2025 and attracted more than ten applications. Teams were selected based on several key criteria: technological sophistication, innovation, market potential, and the team’s capabilities.

Over the next five months, participants completed training, developed their projects, and built prototypes. The teams worked through ten training modules, collaborated with mentors and innovation leaders, received one-on-one guidance, and prepared to pitch their projects to an expert panel. To support product development, BGV provided each team with approximately UAH 155,000 to purchase the equipment and materials needed to build an MVP.

At the final showcase, participants presented projects in cybersecurity, MedTech, AI, energy efficiency, and sports technology. The projects included hands-on cybersecurity training platforms, surgical medical solutions, intelligent energy management systems, building automation technologies, and digital tools for sports analytics.

Representatives from the business community, the startup ecosystem, and local government attended the final presentations and praised the teams’ work.

“Programs like this are incredibly important because they give students a real opportunity to grow, build careers, and create their own innovative products right at their university. The BGV Hardware Accelerator proves that our students can turn ideas into real technology solutions. Our role as a university is to support that potential by providing the infrastructure, mentorship, and tools young innovators need to build new technology businesses. We sincerely thank BGV Group Management and Gennadii Butkevych for their continued belief in young Ukrainian innovators and for a partnership that helps transform university ideas into real innovation projects”, said Oksana Oliinyk, professor and rector of Zhytomyr Polytechnic State University

The first BGV Hardware Accelerator cohort launched in 2024. Across its first two cohorts, the program has supported 11 hardware teams and invested more than UAH 1.7 million in developing their MVPs. Participants receive funding to purchase equipment and materials for prototype development, along with access to the university’s modern engineering infrastructure, mentorship, and educational program.

In 2026, the BGV Hardware Accelerator was included in the first large-scale independent study of Ukrainian accelerator programs, prepared by Techosystem in partnership with Forbes Ukraine. It further recognizes the program’s growth and increasing visibility within Ukraine’s startup ecosystem.