Georgia Tech Welcomes Foreign Entrepreneurs Through U.S. State Department Program

Editor’s Note: This article was first published by the Enterprise Innovation Institute at the Georgia Institute of Technology and is reprinted with permission.

In the ongoing war between Russia And UkraineYevhen Popov is something of an information warrior.

Popov is director of civic partnerships and research at Osavul, a KyivUkrainian information security startup founded in 2022.

Using artificial intelligence, the company’s software enables governments, nongovernmental organizations, media outlets and other private sector clients to collect and analyze data from online networks and platforms to combat disinformation and cyberattacks. It was launched just as war broke out in Ukraine.

“The invasion happened not only on the ground, that is, by military force, but also in the minds of people,” Popov said. “So with the disinformation attacks happening almost every day – two or three times a day – this is our response. This is a way to guide agencies and companies to protect them from these harmful narratives, to protect them from the damage or the adverse effects of the attacks.”

Popov and 18 other entrepreneurs — mainly from Ukraine but also from other countries, including Sri Lanka, Jordan, Fiji, Botswana, BrazilAnd Mongolia —were at Georgia Tech’s Encore for several weeks in May and early June as part of a US Department of State program.

This effort, the Global Initiative for Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST)connects innovators from emerging economies who want to grow with academic experts and ecosystem builders in the United States who can help them succeed.

GIST works with Nakia Meleciowho leads the Innovation Lab initiative within Georgia Tech’s economic development arm, the Enterprise Innovation Institute. Melecio has been selected to lead several GIST-related ecosystem-building efforts in Asia, Africa, Europe and Southeast Asia. Latin America.

On campus, the entrepreneurs met with campus leaders, researchers and economic development experts from Georgia Tech, including from the Office of Commercialization, VentureLab, CREATE-X, International Initiatives and the Enterprise Innovation Institute EI.² Global.

“We have the opportunity to share not only our resources, but also our best practices to help these innovators not only pave the way within their own ecosystems, but also understand how to penetrate the United States,” Melecio said, adding that Georgia Tech is expected to welcome another cohort of entrepreneurs later in the summer from Egypt.

“We are very pleased here at the Enterprise Innovation Institute to provide the level of coaching, support and access these founders need to succeed and achieve their goals.”

The visiting entrepreneurs are equally enthusiastic.

“It’s very interesting to be here because the startup ecosystem is quite large in Atlanta and Georgia,” Popov said. “It’s a good opportunity to be here with people who know what they’re doing and how they’re doing it.”

Expanding her network and the prospect of global expansion drew Ariuntuya Altangerel, co-founder and CEO of Brighton EdTech in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, to Georgia Tech.

The language learning startup was founded in 2011 to interactively facilitate English language proficiency. Altangerel is exploring the possibility of replicating this model beyond its home country of 3.3 million people.

“We have a very small population, so for startups, we have no choice but to expand internationally to be able to scale,” she said. Being at Georgia Tech also gives her and the other entrepreneurs hosted by GIST the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in a thriving startup ecosystem.

“In our country, the startup ecosystem is in its infancy. It is growing faster and faster, but we still have fewer opportunities to get investment,” she said. “I just see this as a unique opportunity for us to dive into this ecosystem and learn as much as possible.”

Nevindaree Premarathne is the Founder and CEO of The Makers in Sri Lanka, a company that aims to instill innovative habits in children through hands-on STEM activities and community development. The company has partnered with educational institutes, non-governmental organizations and private companies to reach underprivileged schools and empower female students with STEM skills.

“We’re gaining a lot of knowledge from Georgia Tech,” Premarathne said, noting that his company ships its activity boxes to 10 countries and is looking to expand.

“As a country, we have a small ecosystem,” she said. “We really want to improve our network here, look for investment opportunities and also partnerships, that’s really important for us, because of the area we work in, which is education.”

Learning how to crack the U.S. market is Vlad Popov’s goal for his company, Platma, a two-year-old no-code software development platform based in kyiv.

“Our specific goal is to find investors there and form a partnership that will help us conquer the American market,” said Vlad Popov, Platma’s marketing director.

The war in Ukraine is driving some of those growth projects, he said. “The war even pushed us forward in this case, because we understand that every day can be the last day, so we work as hard as we can,” he said, noting that the team works mostly remotely but that workdays are often disrupted by warning sirens, power outages and missile strikes.

“Starting a business is good because it gives people work, it pays taxes, it helps the economy become strong. It’s important to start a business, even if it’s difficult.”

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