Alte University Holds Large-Scale Start-Up Marathon for Schoolchildren

At the initiative of Alte University, in cooperation with GITA, TBC Program "Startup" and TBC Z, the first school Start-up marathon will be held. The unprecedented project aims to develop entrepreneurial skills and competencies in school children.

Teona Dalakishvili, Head of Startup Garage at Entrepreneur Alte University, talked about the importance and plans of the competition.

"It is very important to establish a sustainable startup ecosystem in the country, for which, first of all, young people should be interested - turn their ideas into reality. We want to find students who have the desire and motivation to create an interesting, innovative and valuable product or service, ”said Teona Dalakishvili.

Applicants will be selected according to several key criteria, including: Innovation of the business idea, Validity of the idea: How important is the problem solved?, Feasibility of the idea - How realistic? And Impact - What changes does the business idea bring? The winners will receive a scholarship from Alte University and a $ 5,000 prize from TBC Z and Startup. Start-up garage services will allow them to develop an idea and enter the global market.

"The project primarily covers all regions and will significantly activate the interest of young people in startup activities. The selected teams will go through the pre-acceleration process, learn how to refine their ideas, how to design an innovative business model, how to attract customers and how to create a prototype. They will have the opportunity to at least present their idea to the jury members and even if they fail to receive the prize, they will be able to present the idea further to other donors and investors. In the future, our goal is to start sustainable entrepreneurship programs in schools and establish startup clubs. 

The marathon will have a permanent look and it will give the opportunity to as many interested young people as possible to participate. Our goal is also to bring together active participants in the ecosystem. Most importantly, there is already a lot of interest from schools, we are going to visit all regions and organize information meetings in February. We are going to actively cooperate with the schools in order to increase their involvement in the future and to make the marathon even bigger in the coming years,”Teona Dalakishvili explained.