The Lviv IT Cluster Team Met with the Mayor of Würzburg

On August 29th, a delegation from the German city of Würzburg, led by Mayor Christian Schuchardt, visited the Lviv office of the Cluster. During the meeting, the potential for further collaboration between Lviv and Würzburg in the fields of technology and innovation was discussed, and our community’s key achievements were presented.

The German delegation was introduced to the projects of Ukraine’s largest association of tech companies. Our team specifically highlighted the educational initiatives of the Lviv IT Cluster to our foreign guests. It is critically important for our community that Ukrainian youth receive high-quality and modern tech education in Ukraine. That’s why we are actively working on creating a Research Center in Lviv for students of engineering specialties. This center will combine laboratories for cross-sectoral research and spaces for lectures and workshops. Students will have a unique opportunity to work on their projects and develop entrepreneurial skills.

Additionally, our team exchanged experiences with representatives of the Würzburg city government regarding strategies for developing and promoting startups. Every year, Lviv IT Cluster organizes the largest and most prestigious startup competition in Ukraine — the Startup Competition. This event traditionally occurs during IT Arena, Eastern Europe’s most significant English-language tech conference. Over the past 10 years, more than 1,000 startups have had the opportunity to participate in the competition. In addition to the chance to attract investment, the winners of the Startup Competition receive significant cash prizes that can be used to develop their products or expand their teams. The delegation learned about the most successful innovative developments and technological solutions implemented by the competition’s winners.

“We value the opportunity to present the achievements of the Lviv IT Cluster to Mr. Christian Schuchardt and his team. Since 2023, Würzburg has been an official sister city of Lviv, but the local government has been assisting our residents since the first days of the full-scale invasion. I am convinced that today’s meeting will further strengthen the friendship between our cities and open up opportunities for the start of a long-term partnership in the fields of innovation and technology. We thank the Würzburg Mayor and his team for their visit and interest in future cooperation,” emphasized Stepan Veselovskyi, CEO of the Lviv IT Cluster.

After the meeting, Würzburg Mayor Christian Schuchardt, along with Lviv IT Cluster CEO Stepan Veselovskyi and Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi, participated in a capsule-laying ceremony for the construction of the Mental Health Center near St. Luke’s Hospital. This center will provide psychiatric and psychotherapeutic care to patients affected by the war. The construction will be supported by the city of Würzburg. Future Mental Health Center is part of the UNBROKEN ecosystem, which the Lviv IT Cluster has been supporting for several years. In 2022, our community created a Mental Health Center for adults, and last year, we opened a similar center for children and adolescents.