The final of the "Idea Battle Demo Day" team startup competition took place at Dulat University with the support of the regional branch of the "Astana Hub" International IT Startup Technopark, Zhambyl Hub. The organizing committee of the competition included the regional manager of Zhambyl Hub, Aigerim Nauryzbekova, and the commercialization department of the Department of Science and Commercialization.

The aim of the competition was to support young professionals who have started or are planning to start an IT startup, and to provide innovative startups and entrepreneurial initiatives with the necessary resources, knowledge, and support. The competition also aimed to promote startup culture among youth and develop the best ideas in the industry.

The competition was judged by senior managers and representatives from various organizations, including: Ashymbek Abilgazinov, Senior Manager of the Business Projects Office at Astana Hub; Aizhan Rustemova, Commercial Director of the startup "The Fashion People"; Nursultan Orazalin, Head of the Product Office at Hamkorlab in Tashkent; Temirlan Berkimbayev, Co-founder and COO of Vector Education; Bekdauyl Ipdildaev, Director of the Zhambyl Regional Branch of Bank CenterCredit; Gulpara Tashenova, Head of the "Project Management and Digitalization Center of Zhambyl Region" under the Zhambyl Regional Administration; and Aibar Usen, Head of the Project Office at Kazphosphate’s IT Department.

The competition was officially opened by the Vice Rector for Science and Digitalization, Member of the Board, Seitjan Orinbayev, who emphasized the importance of startups. In his speech, he highlighted that in the age of technology, every young generation has the potential to launch its own startup, and that the most important thing is to identify a relevant problem and find ways to solve it. He expressed high expectations for the participants.

According to the message of the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kazakhstan's IT exports are expected to reach 1 billion dollars by 2026. Accordingly, the contribution of Zhambyl region to this goal continues to grow.

The competition involved high school students from grades 9-11, university, and college students. In the first stage of the competition, participants completed a 4-day training program. A total of 55 applications were received, with the top 30 teams advancing to the semifinals to present their projects. Following the semifinals, 15 top startup ideas competed in the final, where they showcased their knowledge, skills, and experience, presenting their projects before the jury. The projects included a brief description of their concept, stages, processes, technologies, results, etc. Special attention was given to the social benefit and economic efficiency of the projects. The top teams were awarded cash prizes from a prize fund totaling 500,000 tenge.

Based on the results of the competition, the jury made the following decisions:

- **1st place** – BEELIEVE team – 250,000 tenge 

- **2nd place** – HELP FOR MUTES team – 150,000 tenge 

- **3rd place** – AGRIBOTICS team – 100,000 tenge 

At the end of the event, participants expressed their gratitude to the university staff and Aigerim Nauryzbekova, the regional manager of Zhambyl Hub and sponsor of the competition, noting that the competition had been a challenging and exciting experience.

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