KICK-OFF OF GREENCHEM ACCELERATOR 2026: 11 TEAMS, 30 MENTORS, AND TWO DAYS OF INTENSIVE STARTUP DEVELOPMENT
On May 7-8, the Kick-off of GreenChem Accelerator 2026 took place – the opening event of the acceleration programme that brought together 11 teams of innovators, 30 mentors, as well as experts, business representatives, and international organizations to foster solutions in green chemistry and sustainable production.
Over the course of two days, participants got acquainted, presented their ideas, validated the problems and value propositions of their startups, and received their first practical tools for project development.
The programme opened with welcoming remarks from distinguished guests: Olga Yushkevych, Deputy Director of the Department for Economic Cooperation with the EU and Other Countries at the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine; Stefan Sikars, Senior Coordinator for Ukraine at United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO); Onyeka Obiocha, Director of GreenChem Accelerator at the Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering of Yale University.
The participants were introduced to the accelerator programme by Olena Tabachuk, Programme Manager of GreenChem Accelerator at the Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production Center.
This year’s participating teams from different oblasts of Ukraine include:
- ReTerraTile – Kharkiv
- Power-to-Methanol Systems (P2M) – Sumy
- Wild Vine – Lviv
- EcoIn – Vinnytsia
- SFMCS – Kyiv
- Green Composite Technologies – Vinnytsia
- GREENODIN – Vinnytsia
- PolyFuel – Kyiv
- Argentera – Sumy
- THE ROOTS – Kremenchuk
- Integrated Processing of Municipal Wastewater Sludge Residues – Kyiv
During the second day, participants attended the lecture “From Idea to a Successful Startup” delivered by Serhii Serhiienko, Deputy Director of Sikorsky Challenge Innovation Holding, and took part in the workshops “Idea Validation & Problem Fit” and “Value Proposition & Solution Fit” conducted by Andrii Salamatov and Kateryna Vershynina, co-founders of the creative agency 4Press and business intelligence company GreenDuck.
GreenChem Accelerator is not only about startup development, but also about building a community of like-minded people where new partnerships, ideas, and solutions for a sustainable future emerge.
The Green Chemistry Accelerator is implemented within the framework of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization “Global Green Chemistry Innovation and Network Program” (GreenChem), with financial support from the Global Environment Facility. The Program is implemented by the Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering at Yale University (USA), while the national implementing partner of the project is the Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production Centre.
