A networking cafe, tailoring men’s underwear, a virtual fitting room, production of fruit-based sweets, a 3D printing ecosystem, and a security chatbot. These are the bold business ideas of our youth.

The winners of a business idea contest were chosen from among six finalists in Zhytomyr.

The young people share their dreams with great enthusiasm and re full of desire to see their aspirations come true.

Students from Zhytomyr Polytechnic State University Yaroslav Koziaryn and Maksym Biletskyi talk about their idea:

“We are introducing a 3D printing ecosystem that can print any object out of recycled plastic.” The MechLab3D team entered the contest with the model of this device. The printer works using the FDM method. In other words, it melts plastic, applies it in layers on a hot bed, and then creates the model. The authors are convinced that this idea is a step toward independence and environmental friendliness. Because all you need is a socket and a computer to prepare models.

The device can be used not only by businesses but also, for example, housewives. They can make some coasters for the kitchen out of plastic bottles.

The MechLab3D team says scale is more important to them than resources: “We have orders for printers and are a startup with resources for models. However, we wish to advance and grow.”

The business idea of another contestant, Artur Pavlovskyi, is to tailor men’s underwear. The raw material is microdiving fabric, which, according to Artur, has excellent properties despite its artificial origin, such as high strength, quick drying, breathability, and non-stretching qualities. “There won’t be a traditional label on the models that people remove after purchasing. The main information will be laid onto the fabric by sublimation transfer. This fabric’s advantage is that you can make a print on it,” explains Arthur. He researched the market needs: there is similar underwear on the market, but it is made from different raw materials. However, he hasn’t come across any that were made from microdiving.

Arthur already has the fabric, elastic bands, and the design. He has already made arrangements with a local sewing shop. Therefore, he believes that the UAH 25,000 the winner will get may well be enough for the first batch of underwear, which is 140 units.

This was the first time such a contest was held in Zhytomyr. The First Deputy Mayor, Svitlana Olshanska, stated that they plan to hold such an event yearly. “Our young people have a lot of creative business ideas, and it’s fantastic when they also satisfy contemporary demands. The jury considered this significant factor while choosing the winners.”

Security solutions are one of the priorities of the contest.

It is also a priority for the OffFake team since they are developing a security chatbot, the first tool to counter disinformation.

A member of the team, Nazariy Danylchuk, demonstrates how it operates. He enters the requested message. The bot quickly finds the primary source, analyzes the information, assesses the level of emotional coloring of the text, looks for manipulative techniques, etc.

The chatbot gave Nazariy a range of links in response to his message. “This is not a search for articles by keywords. It’s about the primary source of the information,” the team members explain.

The bot analyzes only Ukrainian information sources. The team is actively working on the possibility of processing other languages. The team also focuses on checking security links, checking domains for suspicious activity, spotting errors in the text, determining narratives of information based on country of origin, supporting photo and video processing, installing a tracker on Telegram channels upon the reader’s request, etc.

The OffFake team consists of students from Polissia National University who work at the university’s Noosphere Engineering School. They won the business idea contest. They can now participate in the yearly Sikorsky Challenge startup contest, which will take place on October 24-27.

They will receive UAH 25,000 to develop their business idea.

An equal amount went to the MechLab3D team, which took second place in the contest.

The contest was held as part of the “EU4Business: SME Recovery, Competitiveness and Internationalization” program. The methodology was developed by the Sikorsky Challenge Innovation Holding.