About the program
 

The program is designed for teams aiming to attract investment, refine their product, scale their business, and enter new markets.

‍Startups with EdTech, HealthTech, and AI products are welcome to apply. This year, we want to put a special focus on supporting EdTech and HealthTech teams, as we see strong potential in these areas. At the same time, we are keeping a dedicated AI track open for startups from other industries that are already working with artificial intelligence or planning to integrate it into their product, - says Iurii Blavt, Co-Founder of Challenger Accelerator and Partner at Civitta, the program’s organizer.

Challenger is an equity-free accelerator: startups don’t pay to participate and don’t give up any equity. However, if a team raises investment during the program or within one year after, Challenger may receive 3–5% of the raised amount.

To date, Challenger has graduated 32 startups, including CheckEye, Getpin, GIOS, Beholder, Rythmex, Apixmed, Object Control, Inspira, Connective One, Extra-Vision, and others.

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‍Benefits for Challenger 4.0 participants

• $25K grant for the winner from accelerator partner UMAEF.
  
  
• $75K+ in cloud service credits for the top 3 teams from USF and additional partner perks.
  
  
• A trip to Latitude59 for the best startups.
  
  
• 30+ hours of 1:1 mentorship with top business and tech experts, tailored to your needs.
  
  
• 15+ hours of workshops with practitioners on product-market fit, fundraising, marketing, sales, and more.
  
  
• Sessions with Ukrainian and international investors, including personalized feedback and recommendations.
  
  
• Networking and community events with founders, mentors, and industry leaders.

Over the past 5 years, Ukraine’s startup ecosystem has grown nearly ninefold. Despite the challenges of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukrainian teams continue to demonstrate resilience and ambition — raising a record $450M in the first quarter of 2025 alone. This is a clear testament to their tremendous potential and entrepreneurial spirit. We see Ukrainian innovators as a driving force of the economy and are committed to supporting them on their path to growth and scale,  - Anton Waschuk said, Innovation, Education and Entrepreneurship director at the Ukraine-Moldova American Enterprise Fund (UMAEF).

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Eligibility

Startups are eligible to apply if they have a team of at least 2 people and a product at the MVP stage.

Applications are open until November 20 via this link.

The accelerator will run in a hybrid format from January to April 2026, featuring several offline events. The program will culminate with Demo Day in April, where startups will pitch their solutions to investors and compete for prizes. After graduation, teams will also receive post-acceleration support.

Challenger Accelerator is organized by Civitta in partnership with Radar Tech, with the support of ESTDEV – the Estonian Centre for International Development.