The first accelerator competition of start-up projects in the field of self-employment, distance working, and freelance took place on November 9, 2021, at the NSTU NETI "Boiling Point". It was held for the university and vocational education students and graduates as well as young professionals with disabilities.
The competition-accelerator is the final event held by the Interregional Public Organization "Social Partnership" in cooperation with the NSTU NETI within the project "Alternative inclusive employment: self-employment, freelance, and distance working", supported by the Presidential Grants Fund (Special Competition 2020).
The aim of the competition is to encourage the university and vocational education students and graduates as well as young professionals with disabilities to develop the competencies needed for alternative employment in freelance, self-employment, and distance working.
There were 22 applications in total from students and graduates with disabilities from the following educational institutions in Novosibirsk: NSTU NETI (Novosibirsk State Technical University), NSPU (Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University), Kosygin Technical School of Novosibirsk Regional Union of Consumer Cooperatives, Mendeleev Novosibirsk Chemical Engineering College. 10 individual and group inclusive projects were selected to participate in the finals. All finalists received certificates as well as commemorative prizes from Sberbank of Russia, whose representative acted as a guest member of the jury.
The winners and runners-up in the start-up accelerator competition for self-employment, distance working, and freelance were students and graduates of NSTU NETI:
Daria Stezhka ("Caracatitsa" (Cuttlefish) handmade cosmetics project) — 1st place;
Stepan Aliev (Assisted Employment Project) — 2nd place;
Ekaterina Chakicheva, Vitaly Pogodaev, Alexander Adler, Ruslan Fargiev ("Psychological Aid Office" project) — 3rd place;
Pavel Pavlenko, Alina Babina (project "Sports hall for Adapted Physical Education in the village of Krivodanovka, Novosibirsk District, Novosibirsk Region") — 4th place;
Tikhon Okshin (Computer service maintenance enterprise project) — 5th place.
The winner of the accelerator competition Daria Stezhka was awarded a diploma and a special prize from Sberbank of Russia and the team of the project "Alternative inclusive employment: self-employment, freelance, and distance working". The runner-ups of the competition received memorable gifts from the project team.