Today, Astarta and the partners started the fourth wave of the grant project, “Brave 4.0.” for Ukrainian veterans, war disabled, family members of combatants, veterans, war prisoners, and missing and fallen defenders who want to develop their businesses and gain new knowledge in entrepreneurship and agro-technologies.
The project, launched in 2022 due to Astarta and Raiffeisen Bank’s partnership, provides educational, financial, and practical assistance for small business development in Ukraine. Since 2024, the group Vodafone Ukraine group has joined the cooperation. The implementation partner is the Charity Foundation “Believe in Yourself.”
The fourth wave of the project, which has already helped 167 Ukrainian entrepreneurs implement their potential, is launching with a new partner, the Ukraine-Moldova American Enterprise Fund, and with an even more ambitious plan to support those who are ready to put their ideas into real businesses despite war, loss or doubts.
50 winners of the project will receive:
- Financial support: grants as production equipment valued up to UAH280k to develop business.
- Educational support: comprehensive theoretical and practical training “Agrostart for Veterans” programme and business training “Basis of Entrepreneurship in the Agricultural Sector” at the leading Ukrainian educational institutions, as well as technological training from Vodafone to automate business and management using AI and big data analytics.
- Internships at Astarta’s agricultural subsidiaries and other grant project winners.
- Business projects support and monitoring.
The project covers seven regions of Ukraine, where all conditions are created to control and monitor the project implementation: the Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Poltava, Ternopil, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, and Chernihiv regions.
“Brave 4.0” aims to increase the socio-economic involvement of veterans and their families, including relatives of captured, missing, or killed defenders and war disabled, create new jobs, and develop prospective businesses that will help strengthen the economy and self-sufficiency of communities during the war and in the post-war recovery period.
This project will help overcome barriers to professional development and self-realisation caused by a lack of resources or knowledge.
From the beginning, “Brave” became an impulse for small business development in Ukraine, giving opportunities to implement business ideas even to those without experience in this field. Thanks to grant assistance, project winners receive financial resources and unique knowledge and practical experience necessary for effective business planning and management. The grant fund of the previous three waves of the project amounted to over UAH11ml. Among the success stories are families of veterans and militaries who launched agricultural startups, entrepreneurs who opened processing enterprises, and even business beginners who implemented their first projects.
To apply, fill the form by 6p.m. January 20, 2025.
Follow the link for all details concerning project conditions and contact information.