110 exhibitor and guests from 14 countries participated on Startup Night 2019, the largest startup event supported by the city council. Startup Europe Awards Hungary has been presented to the most promising startups on this event.
Budapest is the best place for startups in Europe, according to Startups.co.uk, and also the winner of the Startup Europe Awards 2018 in the category of The Best Public Administration for Startups. It was the fifth time that the Budapest Enterprise Agency (BEA), which has been founded by the municipality, organized the Startup Night, the event which aims to become a meeting platform for the actors of the Budapest innovation ecosystem, as well as for those Hungarian and international guests who are eager to know more about this scene. BEA’s chair of the board, Ms. Piroska Szalai told that this year 80 startups and 30 organizations – among them enterprise promotion organizations, universities, and large companies like the Tungsram Group – presented themselves in the venue called Balna Budapest. Next to the Hungarian companies startups from Ecuador, Romania, Slovakia, and Ireland; the city of Düsseldorf, the Irish-Hungarian Business Circle, the Embassy of Israel, and the Vienna Business Agency were also present.
Presenting startups have been selected on the Be Smart startup competitions that the BEA organizes twice a year. On these competitions those innovative Hungarian companies can participate, that have a marketable product, or at least a prototype. During the night the visitors might take a look for example on the Beachegg beach safe, the lunar rover of Puli, the smart incubator from Creo Medical, as well as numerous interesting applications, from smart hotels to online factoring to sidewalk maps for the disabled.
On the event a keynote speech was delivered among others by Ms. Enikő Győri, Member of the European Parliament, as well as by H.E. Ronan Gargan, the Ambassador-Designate of Ireland in Hungary, while in the panel sessions we could great Mr. Csaba Borboly, member of the Commission of European Regions, Mr. Lorenz Gräf, founder of Startplatz Düsseldorf, and organizer of the Rheinland Pitch startup competition, or David Uhlir, president of the EBN – European Business & Innovation Centres Network.
The final act of the official programme was the presentation of the Startup Europe Awards Hungary, due to the fact that BEA has become the Hungarian country manager of SEUA in 2019. The winner startups by category are the following:
· Agritech: AquaShield Control (optimization of hydroponic systems)
· Creative: Flywear (innovative eyewear for helmets), Proworx Digital (intelligent system for microsite development)
· Digilearning: ExaMe (marketplace for exam preparation materials)
· EdTech: Darts Maths (gamified mathematics education)
· E-Health: Mindtech Apps (EEG-based health solutions), Végtagmentő Applikáció (app for those living with diabetes that helps preventing amputation)
· FinTech: GB Solutions (digital banking solutions), Péntech Solutions (online factoring)
· Gastronomy: Flavor (app to discover new flavors)
· Green: Casp – Computer Assisted Super Pipeline (optimization of closed loop geothermal systems), W-Heat (fire resistant, eco-friendly insulation made of wheat)
· HR Innovation: Blue Colibri (internal communications solution), Talentuno (recruitment crowdsourcing platform)
· Industry: Pozi Technologies (positioning solutions for the industry), Sincroll Drive Technologies (innovative solutions for gearboxes)
· Marketplace: DynamO Pricing (dynamic pricing of event tickets)
· Medtech: Dental Scanner Solutions (3D intraoral scanner), E-Fásli (smart heat therapy)
· Mobility: Parkl (a city parking solution that also involves private spots), Route4U (sidewalk maps for people with disabilities)
· Music: Bandmap (social platform for the music industry), Phonic Chat (social app for making music)
· Social: Gyerekkel.com (app for finding child-friendly programmes)
· Tourism: Bonomi (virtual AI assistant for hotels, TMRW Life (smart hotel solutions
On top of the main categories, the Best Female Entrepreneur (Ms. Melinda Szegedi of E-Fásli), the Best Media Partner for Startups (the show ‘Forint, fillér’ of MTVA, the daily Magyar Hírlap, and the online portal Startuplap from Blogstar), and the Best Public Administration for Startups (the municipality of Kecskemét) have also been awarded.
After the awards ceremony the space was open for networking. As one of the winners told: ‘The night was about constant and intensive meeting, on a great place, but more importantly with a lot of important persons from New York to Norway, Düsseldorf, Manchaster, Vienna, London, and, of course, Budapest.’
This year marked the first time when the Startup Night got side events. During the afternoon, on a separate venue, participants of the Startup Afternoon discussed the news of four highlighted topics: application development, fintech, e-health/medtech, and music. Co-organizer of the app development and e-health events, Mr. Tamás Králik of Mindtech Apps reported that on these topics they have managed to link the actors of the startup ecosystem, resulted in an active conversation and successful workshops.
Main sponsors of the Startup Night and the Startup Afternoon were the Municipality of Budapest, and the National Research, Development and Innovation Office, sponsors of the events were the HEPA Hungarian Export Promotion Agency, and the Pallas Athéné Foundations.