Dmytro Lilyk with the startup Neomi won the main prize at the Challenger Demo Day 2026
At the international Demo Day of the Challenger Accelerator program, Dmytro Lilyk with the startup Neomi won, receiving the main prize of $25,000 from UMAEF. The Neomi startup also won four additional awards.
The fourth cohort of Challenger Accelerator completed the program with the final presentations on Demo Day, which took place on April 22. A total of 13 Ukrainian startups completed the program, and Neomi, an AI assistant for business, was recognized as the winner. In addition to the main prize, Neomi received $25,000 in AWS credits from USF, a ticket to IT ARENA, and investment engagement support from Tinydata.
Challenger Accelerator is an international equity-free program that supports startups aiming to enhance their product and scale their business. This year’s program focused on three directions: EdTech, HealthTech, and AI. Participants worked under the guidance of mentors from Ukraine and the EU and attended a series of educational sessions.
Among other participants, Neomi stood out for its integration of AI technologies to automate business workflows. The project enables teams to work faster through a unified chat integration, significantly easing communication and management of internal systems.
The founder of Neomi, Dmytro Lilyk, plans to use the winnings to participate in thematic conferences in April and June, as well as further product development. According to him, these conferences facilitate attracting new business contacts and partners to expand market presence.
Challenger Accelerator, organized with the support of Civitta and Radar Tech, provides an important platform for the development of Ukrainian startups in the context of the global ecosystem. The program demonstrated the resilience of Ukrainian innovators even in the face of external challenges.
