What This Year’s SheLeads Was Like: Three Winners and 15 Internships Following the Program from Serhiy Tokarev and uBoost
SheLeads is an educational program launched by uBoost in collaboration with the Tokarev Foundation for girls interested in STEM, artificial intelligence, and entrepreneurship. The project is built on the idea that fresh perspectives can help solve pressing challenges. The SheLeads program is divided into three levels, and the finals feature a professional jury that evaluates the finalists’ projects. The winners have the opportunity to intern with the program’s partner organizations. This year’s partners were Sigma Software Labs, Ukrainian Startup Fund, Healthy Mind, and AI HOUSE. According to Serhiy Tokarev, Ukrainian impact investor and tech entrepreneur, these partnerships are what make the program especially valuable for future founders.
What projects did the finalists present?
The main idea behind SheLeads has never been about pure competition. It’s an opportunity for participants to step into the role of leaders and gain the most valuable asset of all – experience. “This isn’t a contest. It’s a demonstration. Ukraine will answer the question of who will rebuild the country – and SheLeads is shaping the very cohort of people who will do just that. Not someday. Right now – through a prototype, a pitch, and a first internship,” emphasized Serhiy Tokarev.
This year’s SheLeads winners were three young entrepreneurs who successfully completed every stage of the program and pitched their projects to the jury:
- Iryna Terekhova presented ReGrow, a project aimed at solving two pressing problems at once – environmental pollution and soil restoration. ReGrow offers consumers next-generation packaging. It is based on hay and micro-seeds woven into the fibers. In addition to decomposing quickly, this packaging serves another purpose – seeding the soil. As a result, the packaging leaves behind no non-biodegradable waste while helping restore the soil as the seeds germinate.
- Solomiya Andreichuk presented GymGames, software designed to transform ordinary workouts into a gamified process. Thanks to its compatibility with a wide range of modern fitness equipment, Solomiya’s product turns workouts from a necessity into entertainment. This has a positive impact not only on participants’ physical health but also on their mental well-being.
- Sofia Kedria presented her own perspective on the problem of low solar panel efficiency. Instead of simply increasing the number of solar panels at solar power plants, her project proposes changing the very approach to harnessing solar energy. By using optical lens technology, her solution achieves greater energy efficiency.
Each new season brings increasingly innovative ideas, according to Nastasia Deeva, CEO of the Tokarev Foundation. “We see how participants come in with an idea and leave with a product, a team, and their first industry contacts. This is exactly the infrastructure of opportunities we want to create,” said Deeva.
The Future After SheLeads: What Awaits Participants and Winners
The finalists of the SheLeads educational program are selected by a qualified jury that carefully reviews each project. Winners receive the opportunity to complete internships at leading tech companies, but for the participants, it doesn’t end there.
Building on the experience they gain through SheLeads, many participants go on to join other entrepreneurship and innovation programs, such as Technovation Girls. This year, two teams went on to reach the Technovation Girls finals after completing SheLeads, earning international recognition for their work. This is how SheLeads fulfills its mission: empowering a new generation to shape its future through the knowledge, experience, and opportunities the program provides.
