Young Founders Academy · Bratislava
Your child doesn’t need to fit in. They need a space to find where they belong — and what they can bring to others.
At YFA, children from different backgrounds discover their strengths, work in diverse teams and turn their ideas into real projects. Because knowing yourself is where great ideas begin. Knowing how to build with others is where they become real.
A three-year entrepreneurial skills program for teenagers aged 10–15.
In person, in a group of up to 12.
Find your strength. Find your people. Create something that matters.
Starts 1 October 2026·120 minutes once a week
YFA =
90 sessions across three years — and every one is hands-on. Work things out with a team, make decisions, present an idea, finish what you started. Because entrepreneurial skills are not learned from a textbook. They are built through experience.
Book a trial session →The game is not just entertainment. It is how children experience new skills for themselves. They do not learn about teamwork — they work in a team. They do not study decision-making — they make decisions. And it never feels like another lesson at school.
Book a trial session →We do not test children or put labels on them. The mentor watches them in action and records specific situations and achievements. By the end of the year, these build into a strengths profile — where your child is strongest and where they can grow next. Not a report card. A map for further growth.
Book a trial session →A stable team where children learn to work together over time — not random pairs for a single session. Step by step, they move towards a project of their own: from an idea, through teamwork, to a working prototype they can show to others.
Book a trial session →At the end of every trimester, children show what they have created. The finale is Demo Day — a live presentation of their work in front of an audience and invited guests. Creating something is one skill. Standing behind it and presenting it to others is another.
Book a trial session →The problem
School gives knowledge. It does not teach negotiating, speaking in public, taking responsibility, or finishing what you started.
Artificial intelligence can replace hard skills, but it will not replace knowing how to build a team, stand your ground or speak in public.
Approach
We do not teach a child to be someone else.
We help them find their own strength — and give them the tools to develop it.
For one child it is negotiation. For another, pulling people together. For others, finishing the job when everyone else is tired. Our work is to spot it and amplify it.
(1)Think
imagine · research · plan · make
(2)Drive
start · keep going · solve it · take a risk
(3)Relate
connect · hold a team · hear others
(4)Lead
negotiate · present · organise · inspire
3
years
a continuous program, not a course
90
sessions
each one hands-on, not theory
15
archetypes
across 4 domains: think, drive, relate, lead
43
badges
for specific actions, not attendance
12
children
maximum per group
The Founder Legends program
Three years:
Me → We → World
YFA is the academy; Founder Legends is its core program. One level equals one year in the program. Each year has its own theme, three trimesters and a public finale.
Level depends on the child’s readiness. Groups are formed of children close in age — more on that below.
Rhythm
What a session looks like
No lectures. For 120 minutes the child moves, works with their hands and interacts with the other children and the mentor.
Admission
Entry by readiness — not by age
A level is a year in the program, not an age band. We look at readiness, and form groups by similar age.
The five dimensions we take into account
Three sources
We do not accept everyone, but this is not about exclusivity. It is about placing a child in a group where everything will be within reach and interesting for them.
Outcome
At the end of each year you receive a Founder Profile — a map of your child’s strengths.
Not grades or “good/bad”. A specific account — where they showed up this year, how exactly, and what to do next.
Sample profile · top 5 of 15 archetypes
Superpower (talent) — Negotiator archetype · Lead domain · 7 badges. Badges: “Closed the deal” (3), “Settled the dispute” (1), “Held their ground” (3).
Superpower (talent) — Finisher archetype · Drive domain · 6 badges. Badges: “Saw it through” (4), “Engine of the team” (2).
Strength — Team anchor archetype · Relate domain · 5 badges. Badges: “Shoulder” (3), “Peacemaker” (2).
Strength — Speaker archetype · Lead domain · 4 badges. Badges: “Strong pitch” (2), “Voice of the team” (2).
Strength — Idea generator archetype · Think domain · 3 badges. Badges: “What if…” (3).
How badges work
Three tiers
We highlight a child’s strengths and give them the tools and the environment in which those strengths develop to the full.
Three years
How the reward grows up
Level 1
Collector’s journal
“I am getting to know myself”
Level 2
Talent currency
“I am building capital”
Level 3
Project shares
“people believe in me”
The way rewards are given grows along with the child. Every year it changes to match how the child and their motivation change.
Format
What the program includes
One session a week through the school month
All session materials
The progress carrier for your level
Participation in all three trimester finales
Founder Profile at year end
Program author
Renata Reshetnikova
CEO and co-founder of YFA
PhD, PMP. 10+ years in project and program management — development, technology, education, fintech, medtech.
Founder of Bratislava Business Hub. Expert in operations management and business psychology. Helps international companies build effective systems and develop their teams and leadership through coaching.
Speaker at PAM Summit 2024 in Krakow.
Differences
Why this is not just another after-school club
| A club / school program | YFA | |
|---|---|---|
| Horizon | one topic, one semester | 3 continuous years |
| Group | the whole class | up to 12, matched by readiness |
| What the child does | listens and follows | invents, builds, presents |
| Outcome | attendance | their own project + Founder Profile |
| Language | one | the group’s own language |
↓ Show this screen to your child
YFA is a game where you discover your superpowers and become a real superhero
Nobody sits at a desk here. You invent, build, experiment and show what you can do. You collect badges for your achievements — and gradually discover what your superpower is.
A place where they look at your ideas, not your age
Your ideas do not stay in a notebook here. With your own team, you turn them into first prototypes, test them in practice and discover what you can really do. And you meet people who take your ideas seriously.
You are old enough to find your strength, build your own team and turn your dream project into reality
A real team. A real project. A real presentation in front of people. By 15, you can already have something behind you that you genuinely created — not just another school assignment.
Nobody tests you here
You do not pick your strength from a list — it shows in what you do. Look at what happens here.
Here you look for different solutions, pick the strongest idea and turn it into a plan.
Badges you can earn here
Here you carry the work through to a result, even when it is hard and there is no obvious answer.
Badges you can earn here
Here you learn to hear others, support the team and help it move forward together.
Badges you can earn here
Here you present your ideas, defend your position with arguments and negotiate.
Badges you can earn here
Parents fill in the application — show them this screen.
Straight talk
This is our first intake, so we have no testimonials yet. Nor any wish to invent them.
But right now you can check the following:
(1)Program
all 90 sessions written out down to the topic of each one
(2)Method
what the archetype and badge system is built on
(3)Founders
who we are and why we are doing this — with direct contact
The first group is the founding cohort of 2026. A status you cannot buy later: first pick of time slots, a personal meeting with the founders, and separate recognition at the first Demo Day.
Questions
One session a week, 120 minutes. This is not another school subject but a different mode: nobody sits and listens here.
We do not teach company registration. During the first year a child learns to come up with an idea, turn it into something tangible and present the result. Those skills work at school, in sport and in any future profession.
The difference is in the format, the depth of the program and the planning horizon. A school program covers one topic per semester with the whole class. At YFA the program runs three continuous years. The group is up to 12 children, matched by readiness. Every participant defends a project of their own at the end.
That is why we built the badge system — every badge is given for a specific action, which the mentor names out loud. Over a year those badges add up to a Founder Profile: the highest badge counts show which of the child’s strengths came through most. And we explain how to turn those strengths into confident skills.
Groups work in English, Slovak or Ukrainian — your choice. You pick the language in the application and we place your child in the matching group.
The first session is free, and if your child likes it you pay for the month. Payment is month by month, with no annual contract and no automatic charges. If it becomes clear to your child that this is not for them, you simply do not pay for the next month. Before that we will gladly talk to you and your child to pin down the problem and, where possible, suggest a solution.
One session a week through the school month, all materials, the progress carrier for the level, participation in the trimester finales and a Founder Profile at year end. We discuss the price at the interview, no hidden payments.
Admission has three steps: a parent questionnaire, a child questionnaire and a practical quest for the child. It is not about filtering people out but about assessing skills and drive, so we can offer every child the group they will work in most comfortably. Sometimes we suggest waiting, when we can see that a particular group would be uninteresting, too demanding or, conversely, too easy for the child.
Apply
Apply for the first intake
What happens after you apply
No automatic charges. Payment only after your yes.
Thank you. We have your application.
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