Entrepreneur Volodymyr Lytvyn Gifts AI Backpacks to Teenagers from the MindCraft Online Business School

Educational projects for teenagers are a key area of work for the Lytvyn Foundation. They are now complemented by a new format of tech support: MindCraft Startup Backpack. In particular, Vladimir Lytvin's AI backpacks will give graduates of the MindCraft online business school access to AI services tailored to the needs of the business projects that young people create and develop.

The foundation's flagship project, the free MindCraft school, works with youth aged 13–17 years: from learning the basics of online business to creating one’s own project and defending it before an expert jury. Across several cohorts, the school has received more than 1000 applications, its graduates include 400 teenagers from various regions of Ukraine, and the 89 businesses they created have reached the pitching stage. The strongest projects are supported by the foundation with investments and grants. The next tool for graduates is personalized subscriptions to AI services.

According to Vladimir Lytvin’s concept, MindCraft Startup Backpack AI backpacks are not formed as a single uniform package for all participants: the digital contents depend on which task the graduate is working on in their project. It could be market analysis, competitors and target audience, creating presentations or visual content, working with video, or developing a digital product. The program is launched after the school’s pitching session.

Five directions for different tasks.

Before the program starts, MindCraft graduates take a brief survey where each person chooses one priority task for which they need an AI tool. Based on the answer, the direction is determined and the corresponding set of MindCraft Startup Backpack services is formed. The participant receives a subscription to one or two AI services for one or three months. The program covers five directions:

market research, competitors, and target audience;

creation of presentations;

video work: shooting, editing, processing;

creation of static visuals;

development of websites, applications, and other IT products.

Course for working with AI services.

For graduates who do not yet have experience with systematic work with complex AI services, Lytvyn Foundation provides an educational block. In this case, the digital backpack can be supplemented with a short five-online-lesson course lasting 90 minutes. The topics correspond to the five directions of the program, and it can be repeated with updated information about AI services.

Vladimir Lytvin’s AI backpacks as part of a systemic education.

MindCraft is one element of the foundation’s system of educational projects. Code The Future hackathons engage teenagers to work on real business tasks using AI. For those ready to continue developing their own projects, there is a business club and an incubator with practitioner mentors. AI backpacks initiated by Vladimir Lytvin complement this system with tools for graduates who have already defended their projects at pitching. The Lytvyn Foundation also supports a sports-education direction. Together with tennis player Elina Svitolina’s foundation, the ONE POINT program for tennis players aged 10–14 years was launched. It combines competitions, interaction with famous Ukrainian athletes, and a grant of 100 thousand hryvnias for the winner from the Lytvyn Foundation.

Reference

Vladimir Lytvin is a Ukrainian entrepreneur, investor, patron, and owner of several successful businesses in the digital sector. He is the founder of the Lytvyn Foundation—a charitable foundation that builds a systematic free education for teenagers in the fields of entrepreneurship and technology. The most accomplished participants in the foundation’s projects receive grants to develop their own ideas and dreams. Lytvin believes entrepreneurial thinking should be formed from adolescence. That is why his foundation works with children aged 13–17, investing in a new generation that will build Ukraine’s future.