“Events like this prepare future IT entrepreneurs to take feedback well, focus on their strengths and objectively assess their weaknesses. There is an unspoken rule: every startup must go through its “50 first pitches,” said Arkady Seleznev, Managing Director of Astana Hub.

In addition to Arkady, the presentations of the participants were evaluated and commented on by Maxim Bezhenar, tracker of the technopark's acceleration programs; Askhat Sergazin - founder of KOMPRA startup; and Marat Shaken, founder of The Tech media portal and author of a startup guide.

Each participant was given only 3 minutes to perform, after which a signal siren sounded. In total, 15 startups presented their projects that solve a variety of pressing problems: from finding apartments and preparing for IELTS to calling a nurse at home and fighting the garbage epidemic.

• Our goal is to help the environment and make money from it. Through our mobile application Atom, private companies can order the collection of recyclables, which we then sell to recycling plants. Users are also rewarded for turning in recyclables in our app,” says Meiram, founder of the Atom project.

Pizza Pitch is an informal platform where future unicorns try their hand and practice in public speaking. Astana Hub offers support measures for the “smallest” startups - these are Startup School programs, incubation and acceleration, whose participants receive theoretical, practical knowledge, free workspaces and PR support.