{"675141":{"#nid":"675141","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Enterprise Innovation Institute Hosts Foreign Entrepreneurs Through U.S. State Department Program","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn the war between Russia and Ukraine,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/linkedin.com\/in\/yevhen-popov\u0022\u003EYevhen Popov\u003C\/a\u003E is something of an information warrior.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPopov is director of civic partnerships and research with\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.osavul.cloud\/\u0022\u003EOsavul\u003C\/a\u003E, a Kyiv, Ukraine, information security startup founded in 2022.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing artificial intelligence, the company\u2019s software allows governments, non-governmental organizations, media, and other private sector clients to collect and analyze data from online networks and platforms to fight disinformation and cyberattacks. It launched just as war broke out in Ukraine.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe invasion was not only on the ground, which was military with military force, but also with the minds of people,\u201d Popov said. \u201cSo, with the disinformation attacks happening almost every day \u2014 two or three times a day \u2014\u0026nbsp;this is our response. It\u0027s a way to guide agencies and businesses to protect them from these harmful narratives and the harmful effects of these attacks.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPopov and 18 other entrepreneurs \u2014\u0026nbsp;mostly from Ukraine but some from other countries, including Sri Lanka, Jordan, Fiji, Botswana, Brazil, and Mongolia \u2014 were at Georgia Tech\u2019s\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.encoregt.org\/\u0022\u003EEncore\u003C\/a\u003E for several weeks in the spring as part of a U.S. State Department program.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat effort, the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gistnetwork.org\/\u0022\u003EGlobal Innovation Through Science and Technology Initiative\u003C\/a\u003E (GIST), connects innovators from emerging economies who want to scale with faculty experts and ecosystem builders from the U.S. who can help them succeed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGIST is working with Nakia Melecio, who heads the Innovation Lab initiative at Georgia Tech\u2019s economic development arm, the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/innovate.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EEnterprise Innovation Institute\u003C\/a\u003E. Melecio has been tapped to lead several GIST-related ecosystem-building efforts in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile at Tech, the entrepreneurs met with campus leaders, researchers, and economic development experts from across the Institute, including the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/commercialization.gatech.edu\/georgia-tech-research-your-path-commercialization\u0022\u003EOffice of Commercialization\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/venturelab.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EVentureLab\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/create-x.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECREATE-X\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/global.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EInternational Initiatives\u003C\/a\u003E, and the Enterprise Innovation Institute\u2019s\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/global.innovate.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EEI2 Global\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u0027ve got the opportunity to share not only our resources, but our best practices to help these innovators blaze a trail within their own ecosystems and also figure out how to penetrate the U.S.,\u201d Melecio said, adding that Georgia Tech is slated to host a cohort of entrepreneurs from Egypt later in the summer.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019re excited here at the Enterprise Innovation Institute to provide the level of coaching, support, and access that these founders need so they can be successful and hit their goals.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe visiting entrepreneurs are just as excited.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u0027s very interesting to be here because the ecosystem of startups is quite huge in Atlanta and in Georgia,\u201d Popov said. \u201cIt\u0027s a good opportunity to be here with people who know what they\u0027re doing and know how they\u0027re doing it.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EExpanding her network and eyeing global expansion drew\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/ariuntuya-altangerel-ba5b3ba6\/\u0022\u003EAriuntuya Altangerel\u003C\/a\u003E, co-founder and CEO of\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/brighton.mn\/\u0022\u003EBrighton EdTech\u003C\/a\u003E in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, to Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe language learning startup was founded in 2011 to help facilitate, in an interactive way, mastery of English. Altangerel is exploring how the model can be replicated beyond her home country of 3.3 million people.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe have a very small population, so for startups, we have no choice but to go global so that they can scale,\u201d she said. Being at Georgia Tech is also giving her and the other GIST-hosted entrepreneurs opportunities to be fully immersed in a successful startup ecosystem.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn our country, the startup ecosystem is at the seed level. It\u0027s growing faster and faster, but still, there are fewer opportunities for us to get an investment,\u201d she said. \u201cI just see this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us to dive into this ecosystem and learn as much as possible.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/nevindaree\/\u0022\u003ENevindaree Premarathne\u003C\/a\u003E is the founder and CEO of\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.themakers.global\/\u0022\u003EThe Makers\u003C\/a\u003E in Sri Lanka, a company that\u0026nbsp;aims to inculcate innovation habits in children through hands-on STEM activities and community building. The Makers has partnered with educational institutions, non-governmental organizations, and private enterprises to reach underprivileged schools and empower female students in STEM.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are getting a lot of knowledge from Georgia Tech,\u201d Premarathne said, noting her company\u0026nbsp;ships its activity boxes to 10 countries and is looking to scale.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAs a country, we have a small ecosystem,\u201d she said. \u201cWe want to improve our network here, and seek investment opportunities and partnerships. It\u0027s really important for us, because of the space that we are working on in education.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELearning how to crack the U.S. market is what Vlad Popov sought to achieve for his company,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/platma.com\/\u0022\u003EPlatma\u003C\/a\u003E, a two-year-old, no-code software development platform based in Kyiv.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur goal specifically is to find investors there and make a partnership that will help us in the U.S. market,\u201d said Vlad Popov, who serves as Platma\u2019s marketing director.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe war in Ukraine is driving some of those growth plans. \u201cThe war even accelerated us in this case, because we understand that every day can be the last day, so we work as hard as possible,\u201d he said, adding that the team mostly works remotely but workdays are often interrupted by warning sirens, electricity disruptions, and missile strikes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cStarting a business is good because you provide jobs for people, you pay taxes, you help the economy become strong \u2014 it\u2019s important to start a business, even if it\u0027s hard.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EStartup entrepreneurs are part of a U.S. State Department program that pairs founders from overseas with academic experts.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Entrepreneurs are on campus to learn how to scale and develop viable ecosystems for startup success."}],"uid":"28137","created_gmt":"2024-06-18 17:23:31","changed_gmt":"2024-06-18 19:36:43","author":"P\u00e9ralte Paul","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-06-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2024-06-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"674212":{"id":"674212","type":"image","title":"Enterprise Innovation Institute Hosts Foreign Entrepreneurs Through U.S. State Department Program 2","body":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EEntrepreneurs from around the world were at Georgia Tech as part of a program through the U.S. Department of State designed to help them successfully build their ecosystems in their home countries and scale their businesses. (PHOTO: Chris Ruggiero)\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1718732270","gmt_created":"2024-06-18 17:37:50","changed":"1718732419","gmt_changed":"2024-06-18 17:40:19","alt":"Group shot","file":{"fid":"257697","name":"5-16-24 Event-24.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/06\/18\/5-16-24%20Event-24.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/06\/18\/5-16-24%20Event-24.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2266167,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/06\/18\/5-16-24%20Event-24.jpg?itok=uGHKHGGy"}},"674210":{"id":"674210","type":"video","title":"youtube","body":"\u003Cp\u003ENineteen entrepreneurs \u2014 mostly from Ukraine but some from other countries, including from Asia, the South Pacific, Latin America, and Africa \u2014 were at Georgia Tech\u2019s Encore for several weeks in May and early June 2024 as part of a U.S. Department of State program focused on startup leaders seeking guidance on how to scale, explore potential expansion in the U.S., and how to build successful ecosystems. (VIDEO: Chris Ruggiero)\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1718731832","gmt_created":"2024-06-18 17:30:32","changed":"1733765817","gmt_changed":"2024-12-09 17:36:57","video":{"youtube_id":"ZGLamDlQi4Q","video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ZGLamDlQi4Q"}}},"media_ids":["674212","674210"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"139","name":"Business"},{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"}],"keywords":[{"id":"51311","name":"U.S. State Department"},{"id":"193761","name":"Nakia Melecio"},{"id":"193792","name":"Global Innovation Through Science and Technology Initiative"},{"id":"166994","name":"startups"},{"id":"3671","name":"Enterprise Innovation Institute"},{"id":"2237","name":"International Initiatives"},{"id":"88401","name":"Ukraine"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"106361","name":"Business and Economic Development"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EP\u00e9ralte C. Paul\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E404.316.1210\u003Cbr\u003Eperalte@gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["peralte@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}