Over 40 young people from the city of Cahul, passionate about startups, technology, innovation, and design, gathered at the Startup Hackathon to develop innovative solutions aimed at solving community problems. The event took place from April 4 to 6 at the Inotek Center and encouraged the formation of multidisciplinary teams capable of building relevant technological innovations.

For three days, participants worked in teams to develop startup ideas. Students from the southern region of the country, young entrepreneurs, programmers, designers, and specialists from various fields went through all the stages of launching a startup – from ideation, validation, building a minimum viable product, to the final presentation.

The young participants were guided by six mentors from fields such as business, tech, UI/UX, and new product development. “As part of the organizing team of the Startup Hackathon, my mission was to turn every moment of the event into a valuable experience for the participants, ensuring a space where every young person felt that their idea matters,” said Tatiana Bejan, Entrepreneurship and Community Manager at the Inotek Foundation.

The top three ideas were awarded vouchers worth up to 20,000 MDL:

• 1st Place – De luni la Sală (From Monday to the Gym): Created a smart platform for nutrition and fitness. The app helps users monitor their nutritional and fitness progress, gamifying the personal transformation process. The team won a prize worth 20,000 MDL. Team members: Vlad Balan, Alexandr Belocamenschi, and Victor Șiloveț.

• 2nd Place – TruthFlow – T-Link: The project idea involves an intelligent conversational agent that provides instant insights from a company’s database using only natural language questions. The team won a voucher worth 12,000 MDL. Proposed by Nicolae Cociorva, Alexandra Menzarari, and Nazaretya Mickhayl.

• 3rd Place – DAA Team: Developed a digital solution for online doctor appointments, electronic prescriptions, and centralized medical records. The team won a voucher worth 8,000 MDL. Created by Alexei Percheklii, Alexandru Crasnopiorov, and David Percheklii.

“For me, the Startup Hackathon was, above all, an extremely valuable opportunity. I learned to communicate more easily with people, to express myself more confidently in front of an audience, and even to overcome personal communication barriers. We plan to take our idea further and participate in the GovTech Hackathon 2025,” said Alexei Percheklii, 3rd place winner.

Other solutions developed included:

• TheraMed – an AI app for holistic health, nutrition, fitness, and mental support;

• Bad Guys – a platform to promote local artists and painters;

• LuminArt – a marketplace for local village products;

• Glow and Scent – OstrichPro – an e-commerce platform for candle producers;

• AURA 2.0 – Stup Puff – a smoking cessation app with reward features;

• TehnoMed – TimeWise – a platform for efficient time and project management;

• Holy Bobr – Chronos Loop – a daily planning and time management app;

• GymShark 3.0 – AI-assisted gym with a reward system;

• Șmecherii – regional marketplace via Telegram bot for various products;

• Dlab.md – automation and digitalization for small and medium-sized enterprises.

“What I really liked was having access to mentors who work in the field. I learned valuable and applicable things from them. That’s also why I encourage other young people to get involved in such initiatives. My dream is to study journalism, and the hackathon experience – where we had to present our idea in a very short time – helped me immensely. I learned how to communicate an idea clearly, coherently, and convincingly in just three minutes. This skill will be useful for me in the future,” said Natalia Zanet, member of the AURA 2.0 team.

The event is part of Inotek’s initiatives to strengthen the entrepreneurial and technological ecosystem in the region and encourages innovation based on real community needs.

Inotek – EU Innovation Centre Cahul is a space dedicated to innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurial education. Through hackathons, events, mentorship programs, and accelerators, Inotek actively contributes to the development of a new generation of leaders, innovators, and startup founders in the south of the Republic of Moldova. The Startup Hackathon was held with financial support from Sweden.