How Developers from ISsoft Ukraine Create Projects and Get Financial Support

Every developer has thought about starting his own project or even business at least once in life. But not everyone dares to walk this thorny path. Sooner or later, the question arises: how to combine income-generating work with a business dream that only promises future profits. After all, preparing for the launch of a startup requires a lot of resources: it is not about finances and time but mostly about the search for information. A successful idea, a team of professionals who are ready to share their expertise and guide in the right direction, are integral parts of successful implementation.

To provide all that, ISsoft/Coherent Solutions created an in-house startup incubator Innovation Sandbox, for developers. Anyone from the company’s global team can apply to join the initiative, come up with an idea for their own project and take the first steps towards its development within 20 weeks. Experience has proven this opportunity to be rather attractive, but for various reasons, some Members stop and do not pitch their projects.

“As a rule, about 7-8 projects reach the DEMO Day. At the same time, many team members don’t want to challenge themselves. First, they observe the development of other projects, and sometimes they join the team of an existing project to understand how everything is going on from the inside,” says Alex Drobyshevsky, Director of Innovation at ISsoft/Coherent Solutions.

How to join the startup incubator?

Every six months, a new season of ISsoft/ Coherent Solutions startup incubator is announced. When enrolled in Innovation Sandbox program, Members attend educational sessions, trainings, conduct hypothesis testing, work on product promotion, monetization strategies, and develop a prototype or MVP. Under the guidance of experienced colleagues-mentors, teams receive considerable informational and methodological support during the development and any forms or presentations. Additional possibilities, such as software or hardware licensees, can also be provided upon request.

“Each participant decides what time is more convenient for him to work on his startup project and how to combine it with work. Since your own project makes you excited, it helps you to balance quite well between the tasks and find time to develop your idea. It is important that after working on their own projects (especially business challenges), the Members have a better understanding of the business needs of the client’s project and their own contribution to the establishment of cooperation with the client”, says Alex Drobyshevsky.

DEMO day and determination of winners

The project leader can invite colleagues from different offices of the company to join the team to work together on the product or develop the idea alone. When DEMO Day comes. Every participating team presents their projects to experts among the company’s customers and employees. Three winning projects receive financial support every six months for further development and product release.

“There are many interesting projects every season, both in terms of the importance of problems addressed and development of the project within the program. There were attractive projects in MedTech – vital indicators monitoring system and a device which can help to cure snoring, as well as several projects in the field of e-commerce, which allow solving the problems of small businesses,” says Alex Drobyshevsky.

On July 26, a developer from ISsoft Ukraine participated in DEMO Day of the seventh season of Innovation Sandbox. Maksym Cherniavsky competed with Members from Georgia, Lithuania, Romania, and Belarus and presented his startup Avantec. Despite the fact he did not win, he considers his experience positive:

“It is difficult to prepare a whole project alone. It would be more fruitful and interesting with a team. Therefore, I am ready to try again, but now I am 100% sure that I will need a team. I plan to take a closer look at all competitors and try to find a better solution for my startup project.” 

It is possible to use the opportunity of developing your own project, which can solve real problems and be helpful for people and businesses by becoming part of ISsoft Ukraine.