Challenger AI is a three-month, equity-free online program tailored to help you improve your product and business model, find investors and corporate partners, and overcome current challenges.
Apply now
What we offer
30+ hours of business/tech mentorship
Receive guidance from experienced business and tech mentors and access on-demand mentorship with session experts.
Access to investors
Pitch your solution to representatives from leading international VCs and investors from u.ventures, ZAKA VC, Tera Ventures, Change Ventures etc.
Benefits from Partners
Take advantage of the benefits from partners, such as financial rewards and the right to use their services with discounts for 3-12 months.
15+ workshops from high-level experts
Learn AI/ML, design, business, sales, marketing, and more from industry experts such as SoftServe, NVIDIA, Intel, etc.
Who we're looking for
  • Startups from all over Europe
  • Products based on AI technologies or have clear plans to integrate them
  • Solution with the capacity for growing and scaling
  • Startups with existing MVP/demo or close to reaching this stage
  • Driven & motivated teams of 3+ members
  • Startups who're currently raising funding or planning to do so

Prizes

What can you get except for an exciting experience?

$25k from UMAEF
The program
The challenges

frequently asked questions

Contact
What value do I get out of the program?

Selected teams will go through an intensive 3-month acceleration, and benefit from tailored 1on1 mentoring with the world-class lead and on-demand mentors, and attend workshops by the top-notch experts in digital, AI/ML, design, business, sales, marketing, investment attraction, etc. The program will also feature networking events for startups to get connections with other startup founders, investors, corporate representatives and other ecosystem players. Startups that are raising or planning to raise funds will benefit the most from our program – specifically from the post-acceleration investment attraction support.

Is there a fee for participation in the program?

No, teams do not pay for the participation. In addition, it is an “equity free” program. We only get up to 5% of received investment in 12 months after the program.

Is the program online?

Yes, all program activities will be held online or through online broadcasting (such as the final Demo Day).

What is the time commitment needed to participate in the program?

To participate in our program, a commitment of 4 to 6 hours a week is expected to be sufficient. You will have weekly workshops on different topics from product development to raising capital for your startup. Lead mentors will meet with you and your team biweekly to discuss your pressing questions or ambitious ideas, and guide you through the acceleration to get the best results. But if you wish to receive more mentoring and guidance, we will help to pair you with on-demand mentors and experts.

What is the language of the program?

Since we are an international program with many startups, experts, and partners from various countries, the program is conducted in English. All participants need to have a comfortable level of proficiency in the language to engage effectively in the program.

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The Mentors

Anton Waschuk
Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, UMAEF
Andrej Petrus
Chief Investment Officer, ZAKA VC
Jone Vaituleviciute
Managing Partner, FIRSTPICK
Stanislav Ivanov
Founding Partner, Tera VC
Yrjö Ojasaar
Founder & Partner, Change Ventures Fund II
Andrii Sorokhan
Venture Director, UVentures
Lev Dolgatsjov
Managing Partner, Meemaeger Capital
Erki Mölder
Managing Partner, Verge HealthTech Fund
Karin Künnapas
Venture Partner, Tera VC
Riivo Anton
Entrepreneur, Investor, Specialist VC
Samela Kivilo
Senior Associate, Specialist VC
Hanna Shuvalova
Technology Investor, Horizon Capital
Oleh Karizskyi
Investment Manager, Flyer One Ventures
Oleksandr Komarevych
Acceleration Program Manager, Bocconi for Innovation
Sasha Reminnyi
CEO and Co-founder, UAi Labs
Terje Ennomäe
CEO at Feelingstream
Sergii Shelpuk
AI Technology Consultant
Liubomyr Bregman
Senior Manager | AI & Data, Deloitte Luxembourg
Sam Frish
Interactive Practice Leader, SoftServe
Oles Dobosevych
Vice Dean of the Faculty of Applied Sciences, UCU
Indrek Seppo
Entrepreneur, lecturer, data analyst
Triin Uustalu
CEO & Co-Founder of Glafos
Kristofer Turmen
Co-Founder & CTO Montonio
Jaanika Jelistratov
CEO, VITS Solutions
Mykola Maksymenko
Co-founder & CTO, HAIQU
Yuriy Zaremba
Co-founder & CEO, AiSDR
Alyona Mysko
CEO & Founder, Fuelfinance
Karen K. Burns
Co-Founder and CEO, Fyma
Kaspar Korjus
Co-Founder and CEO, Pactum
Volodymyr Karpiv
Associate R&D Director, SoftServe
Daren Wilson
General Manager, Roche Slovakia
Jakub Sevcech
Governance Architecture Lead, Swiss Re
Patrick Flesner
LeadX Capital Partners, Ex-partner Author of books and educational courses
Farid Singh
Entrepreneur, innovator, digital product manager
Marek Gorski
Senior Product Manager, Upvest
Alex Orlov
Fractional CPO, Stealth AI Startup
Indrek Põldvee
LinkedIn expert, Buisness mentor
Howard Kingston
Co-founder, Frontier Academy
Claes Radojewski
Startup Partner Manager, NVIDIA
Eugenie Wirz
Global Community Manager, Intel
Ryan Metz
Product Manager for AI, Intel
Ivan Altsybieiev
Co-CEO & Co-founder, Reface
Vytautas Černiauskas
Startup Mentor, AI Workforce Scheduling

Partners

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Organizers
Civitta
Civitta is an international collaboratory, erasing artificial boundaries between digital, management consultancy, public advisory, innovation and funding services.
Radar Tech
We help startups, corporates and ecosystems to identify their way to grow and innovate.
General partners
ESTDEV
The Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV) is the state agency responsible for implementing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ international development cooperation strategy.
UMAEF
Partners
Helsing
Trinity
The future on your terms
USF
GitHub
Let’s build from here
Generect
Harmix
Discover the power of accurate AI music search tailored for production music, TV and movie productions, record labels, and publishers
HubSpot
Grow better with HubSpot
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Media partners
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