The Towards Change Foundation and T2 have announced the winners of the Towards Impact Startups 2025 competition

T2, a Russian mobile operator, and the Towards Change Foundation have identified the leaders of the annual competition of social projects in the field of childhood.

Startups that find innovative solutions to improve the quality of life of Russian children and adolescents will receive expert and information support, as well as grants worth 6.4 million rubles.

The “Towards Impact Startups” competition is aimed at supporting leaders of social projects who offer effective solutions to improve the lives of children and adolescents. This year, 297 applications from 63 regions were submitted for participation. The contestants competed for the opportunity to get into the Incubator development program, as well as for grant support in two categories established with the support of T2:

• “Best Social Startup” Grant – 1 million rubles.
• “Best Digital Social Startup” Projects that used Internet technologies to solve the stated problem were submitted for nomination. T2 established the nomination in 2022 in honor of the tenth anniversary of the competition and strategic partnership with the foundation. Grant – 750 thousand rubles.

12 projects became winners of the competition. At the final, they presented their solutions to members of the investment committee. It included Russian impact venture experts, top managers of the fund’s partner companies and teenagers, finalists of the fund’s children’s track. The commission members helped to more accurately assess the potential social impact of projects from the point of view of their beneficiaries.

The grant in the category “Best Social Startup” was won by:

• Tatyana Churzina and Alexander Dubovik (Volzhsky, Volgograd region, and Moscow) – project to create equipment for non-working hands “Joystick Dream” – grant in the amount of 1 million rubles;
• Ekaterina Omelchenko (Orel) project “We Can Do It Together” – center for the development of early care and rehabilitation technologies – 1 million rubles;
• Tatyana Bogacheva (Staraya Russa, Novgorod region) – neurological therapy center “Academy of Speech” – 965 thousand rubles;
• Tatyana Podushkina (Malyatino village, Tula region) – territory for the development of teenagers from orphanages “A Home for the Soul” – 900 thousand rubles;
• Elena Baitukova (Izhevsk) – project to support families with children with disabilities “Movement for Children” – 1 million rubles.

In the category “Best Digital Social Startup” financial support was received by:

• Irina Mashlakova (Moscow) – web service for adapting children with ASD to medical procedures “I’m going to the doctor” – 750 thousand rubles;
• Marina Shlyapnikova (Tyumen) – online school and application for posture correction ScolioWellness – 750 thousand rubles.

All finalists of the competition will have access to the Incubator, the only long-term professional development program for social entrepreneurs in Russia. Over the course of 1-3 years, impact project leaders are given a personal project development plan, support from mentors, business experts – everything they need to gain financial stability and take the startup to the next level.

“The final of the competition is always impressive and keeps everyone on the edge of their seats who come to defend their ideas, evaluate the competitors, root for their loved ones and get to know new impact startups. Behind the presentations of the 2025 projects are 69 T2 volunteers, who helped select the best ideas from the total number of applications submitted. Every year we are inspired by the ideas and perseverance of those who come to the competition,” noted Yuliana Sokolenko, head of corporate social responsibility at T2.

“Social entrepreneurs are people who see real problems on earth often better than others and find entrepreneurial ways to solve them,” said Igor Trosnikov, Deputy General Director of RBC. — Many social projects are born from personal experience: faced with difficulty, people create a business that helps not only them, but also society. Now, when times are difficult and the state and big business may lack resources, the role of such initiatives becomes especially important. We admire social entrepreneurs and are already thinking about a project that will help tell a wider audience about them and draw attention to this topic.”

“Thank you to everyone who was with us on this most important day in the life of the foundation this year. Today, together with you, we are launching projects that have a very long way to go and do a lot of useful things for the little ones, the young and the young in our country. Great things are ahead for project leaders! They will become famous throughout the country and will receive grants from large foundations. Someone will be able to create a sustainable social business. We sincerely believe in this, and our work to support social startups is realized only thanks to your support,” said Tatyana Burmistrova, co-founder and chairman of the fund’s board.

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