BALAYAN GROUP and Karpova.Ventures Host BIG StartUp Day – A Pitch Session for AI-Powered EdTech Startups
Leading consulting firm BALAYAN GROUP, in collaboration with Karpova.Ventures, hosted BIG StartUp Day — a pitch session showcasing AI-driven EdTech startups. This event was part of the ongoing celebrations marking the third anniversary of BALAYAN GROUP and its innovative platform, BIG StartUp Studio, which provides legal and expert support to startups at all stages of development, including assistance in finding investors or buyers and handling investment deals.
Six finalists, selected by a panel of industry experts from a pool of applications, presented their EdTech startups to leading venture capital professionals.
The expert jury featured key figures in entrepreneurship and innovation:
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- Oxana Balayan – Founder & Managing Partner, BALAYAN GROUP; Founder, BIG StartUp Studio.
- Anastasia Karpova – Editor-in-Chief of HBR (“Big Ideas”), author of the channel Karpova Ventures, venture partner at t16e fund, former Forbes journalist, and founder of Under30.
- Pavel Moseykin – CEO, Ultimate Education; co-founder, XYZ School.
- Kirill Tishin – Co-founder & Partner, KAMA FLOW.
- Dmitry Krutov – Founder & CEO, Skillbox and Skillbox Holding Limited.
The pitch session was moderated by Andrey Kochkin, Senior Investor & Partner Relations Manager at Axevil Capital (Pre-IPO investments). Previously, he led Latin American partnerships at Mighty Angels VC and is the only Russian-speaking member of Latitud, the largest community of Latin American angel investors, as well as a jury member for Start-Up Chile.
The startups that made it to the final round and pitched their projects to the jury included:
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- NeoCourse – an educational platform where students can interact with a digital twin of their professor.
- Dailo AI – interactive speech training tools designed for frontline employee education.
- AskHow – a platform for quick and easy creation and sale of micro-courses, optimized for mobile devices and vertical video formats.
- Impulse – a SaaS platform designed for organizing and managing learning and HR processes within educational institutions and corporations.
- INNOPROG – an online IT education platform, featuring a modular learning system, AI-personalized assignments, and one-on-one tutoring.
- Uchebka – a driver’s education service and ecosystem for beginner drivers, covering online theory lessons, personal instructor selection, driving school enrollment, and post-license support (community access, insurance discounts, and car purchase benefits).
Following the presentations, the jury awarded first place to Victoria Tikhonova’s NeoCourse, an educational platform featuring AI-powered digital teacher clones that can lecture on specific topics, conduct proctored testing, answer questions, and provide motivation and support.
As the winning startup, NeoCourse will receive:
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- A personal coaching session with Anastasia Karpova on pitching effectively to investors.
- A private meeting with a venture capital fund for potential investment.
- Legal structuring of key commercial terms with investors, provided by BIG StartUp Studio.
About:
BALAYAN GROUP is a next-generation leading consulting firm specializing in supporting complex transactions and projects in M&A, IPOs, international growth, business restructuring, Private Wealth & Investments. Our clients include major international and Russian companies, private investors, and entrepreneurs.
BIG StartUp Studio is a dynamic platform designed to support young entrepreneurs in scaling their ventures and achieving ambitious goals. It provides startups with legal and strategic expertise in corporate governance, founder-investor relations, and IPO preparation, while also offering exclusive opportunities for accelerated growth. Founded by Oxana Balayan, Managing Partner of BALAYAN GROUP, the platform is driven by Irina Avetisyan, a BALAYAN GROUP Advisor and seasoned expert in venture capital transactions and high-growth projects.