Porto-Franco City

The first youth innovation festival, Brain Fest: «Summer of Ideas», took place in Odessa, organized within the R&D Hub project with the support of the Odessa regional administration.

The event brought together 24 teams of students from vocational colleges and technical schools, who presented their startup ideas in IT, design, urban planning, food technology, education, ecology, medicine, and engineering.

This event served as a vibrant platform for demonstrating creativity, technical skills, and entrepreneurial spirit among youth, as well as facilitating partnerships, mentoring support, and further development of ideas.

Projects were evaluated by a distinguished jury composed of representatives from government, business, and the public sector.

The winners of Brain Fest were:

1st place — team «Honest and Open» (Odessa Pedagogical College).

The project — the creation of an online support platform for teenagers and youth, providing opportunities for anonymous communication, story sharing, emotional support, and access to advice on difficult topics: bullying, domestic violence, psychological difficulties, loneliness.

2nd place — team «FeedPaws» (Mechanics and Technology College of Odessa National University of Technology).

The idea — an engineering-social project of a «smart» feeder for stray cats with face recognition features, controlled feeding, and video monitoring.

3rd place — team «Falcon's Nest» (Odessa Professional Service College of South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University named after K. D. Ushinsky).

The students presented the development — an eco-bag «Falcon's Nest» for FPV drones, which ensures safe delivery of water, medicines, and other essentials to military personnel in combat zones. The idea emerged from discussions with a teacher serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The winners received valuable prizes, but even more valuable was the experience gained and opportunities created.

«Creative thinking, engineering courage, and entrepreneurship shape the future of a strong, innovative, and competitive Ukraine. By investing in the ideas of young Ukrainians, we are laying the groundwork for a stronger, innovative, and competitive Ukraine of the future».

Brain Fest became not only a celebration of ideas but also an effective tool for engaging youth in real change. All participants had the opportunity to find mentors, pilot their developments, and attract partners for scaling.

We sincerely thank all participants, the jury, and partners for their inspiration, support, and belief in the youth of Odessa and their transformative ideas.