ITMO AI Technologies Student’s Experience at World Youth Festival Assembly 2025
In this blog, I wanted to share with you my recent journey to the World Youth Festival in Nizhny Novgorod, where I was honored to be part of the Leningrad Oblast delegation. Out of many applicants, only 10 participants were selected to represent the region, and I was grateful to be among them (it feels like we are a family now).
The festival brought together 2,000 young leaders from across the world after a competitive selection. It was an inspiring environment, full of opportunities for cultural exchange, professional growth, and building meaningful international connections.
A highlight for me was the chance to pitch my project Лапочка, a mobile application that unites all pet care services in one platform. The idea for the app was born during a heartfelt conversation with my uncle, who has been living in Russia for many years. He told me about their little hamster and how, whenever it got sick or needed special food, they had to visit several different places; one for the vet, another for food, and yet another for grooming. Hearing that, I imagined how stressful it must be for pet owners who simply want the best for their companions. That moment sparked an idea: what if all these services could come together in one place?
That’s how Лапочка was conceived; a platform designed to connect vendors and customers in a unified pet care ecosystem. Later, after analyzing the market, we realized that this is the perfect time to launch such a service, as the demand for convenient, digital pet care solutions is rapidly growing.
During the festival, I learned that there was an opportunity to register for pitching a project right on site. The registration opened late at night, and I immediately signed up and began preparing my presentation.
The next day, I pitched my project in front of two experts in a small hall. To my surprise, the following morning I received a message from the director of the World Youth Festival inviting me to present again, this time on a bigger stage in the main pavilion. There were five experts on the panel, and they showed great interest in my idea, encouraging me to continue developing it further.
The experience was truly incredible. The feedback was very positive, and many participants shared how much they loved the concept; after all, everyone loves pets. This encouragement gave me the confidence to take the next step with the project, possibly through an accelerator or incubation program.
I’m especially grateful to ITMO University and the Big Data and Machine Learning program team for equipping me with the technical and communication skills that allowed me to present my ideas on such a platform. The program’s strong focus on innovation and real-world applications clearly reflected in my ability to shape and pitch this project effectively.
Overall, this opportunity was both professionally and personally enriching. It allowed me to connect with talented people from around the world and highlighted how ITMO’s support and reputation create real opportunities for students to contribute globally.
As a result of my presentation at the World Youth Festival, the experts validated my understanding of the market, giving me confidence to move forward with my project. I have recently applied to the ITMO Accelerator to gain additional guidance and expertise for developing Лапочка. The application process was straightforward: I submitted a project proposal outlining the idea, its market potential, and my plans for development. I am now building the project to launch it as lapochka.app and hope to leverage the program to refine and scale it further.
