In a previous piece, we explained what European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) are and what role they play in digital transformation. It’s a network of 12 teams across Ukraine, each with its own focus, working with businesses and organizations in its region or sector.

Win-Win EDIH is one of them. We support businesses, startups, universities, and the public sector in adopting technology, testing solutions, and building innovation capacity.

This article shares 5 practical lessons from our day-to-day work. If you’re only considering reaching out to us, these observations might help you get your bearings.

1. The hub as an entry point into an ecosystem of opportunities

Teams come to Win-Win EDIH wanting to grow, but not always knowing where to start. They can be entrepreneurs, specialists, or education teams with ideas but no access to support or the right contacts. Often, it’s the very first conversation at the hub that helps them get oriented and learn about new opportunities.

→ One IT specialist learned about the hub through another program and asked for guidance on navigating the startup ecosystem and finding new contacts. We suggested a digital maturity assessment (DMA), held a consultation, and invited them to a prototyping bootcamp — all within less than a month.

→ This example shows that it’s worth reaching out even without a clearly defined request. Often, the right direction reveals itself along the way.

2. Businesses need a clear route

Even experienced teams can get lost among digital services. The Win-Win EDIH team explains its services through examples, scenarios, and individual consultations. We don’t expect a client to already know the names of the tools or formats they need — what matters more is understanding their context, goals, and constraints.

→ After explaining how “digital maturity” can affect grant readiness or entry into foreign markets, entrepreneurs stopped seeing the assessment as a formality and started seeing it as a useful tool. Often, it’s only through similar case examples that a complex concept gets “unpacked” and made practical.

→ If it matters to see the logic behind the steps, the hub helps structure the request and choose the right format of support. For some teams, a single conversation is enough to shape a concrete plan: take the assessment, test a hypothesis, or prepare an application.

3. A request for financing often reveals deeper needs

Many clients come with financing requests. But in the process, it often turns out that the product needs clarifying first, demand needs testing, or the team needs to be built out.

→ For example, one team came with the idea of applying for a grant. After a consultation with a mentor, they focused on their business model instead — and put together a clear plan for their application.

→ At Win-Win EDIH, work often starts by clarifying the basics: what’s already working and what needs more development. We don’t push a particular service — we help the team figure out what stage of development they’re at and what should be the priority. This matters especially when resources are limited and the team wants to scale quickly.

4. Trust spreads through communities

In the first months, most inquiries came through personal recommendations — universities, small businesses, startup mentors, people we had already worked with before.

→ Several entrepreneurs reached out because they’d already had experience working with our team on other projects. They saw us as a trusted player in the ecosystem they could come back to with a new request.

5. After the first step comes a second — and so on

Through their interaction with Win-Win EDIH, many companies realize that one service is only the beginning. After an initial assessment, consultation, or program participation, new ideas emerge, and it becomes clear what steps to take next. We also work cyclically with clients: first we capture the request or problem, then formulate a hypothesis about which service or support format might fit, then deliver the chosen service — a consultation, access to testing, or program participation. The final stage is gathering feedback, analyzing results, and defining the next step. Often a new request takes shape right at this stage, informed by the experience gained.

This approach helps build trust, better understand teams’ needs, and provide support that matches the current stage of a business’s or organization’s development.

→ For example, after completing the DMA, one team saw potential in automating part of their processes. They later came back with a request for a consultation on data protection and participation in a grant program.

→ This kind of sequence is a natural part of the journey. In many cases, the request a team first brought to us turned out to be just the beginning of a deeper transformation. Win-Win EDIH supports businesses not episodically, but as a partner they can turn to at different stages of development — building the kind of long-term interaction that fuels sustainable growth.

Why this matters right now

In Ukraine, digitalization and innovation-driven development are closely intertwined and supported by several state strategies. In particular, WINWIN: Ukrainian Global Innovation Strategy emphasizes international integration through innovation. In this context, EDIHs are not isolated initiatives but elements of a shared infrastructure that interacts with numerous state and regional policies.

How to Get Involved

To start working with Win-Win EDIH, you can fill out a short form. This will help us better understand your goals and challenges and select the right services for you.

More information about all the hub’s services is available in the services catalogue on the Innovation Ukraine platform.