A virtual clinic helping patients struggling with Hashimoto’s disease, a platform which allows employees to flexibly book parking spaces, and a system for the production of drugs with no adverse effects – these are just some of the 11 projects which will go head-to-head for a weekly bootcamp in Boston and PLN 100,000 in the Young Innovator Awards competition. The two-month acceleration in the 4th edition of the MIT EF CEE program starts off this November. The stakes are high!
The international MIT Enterprise Forum CEE accelerator is an initiative of the Foundation for Technology Entrepreneurship, which has successfully implemented 8 editions of the program during 5 years of its operation. The paramount goal of the program is to support and promote startups in Central and Eastern Europe, and thanks to a global network of cooperating companies, help in acquiring new clients, investors or business partners.
The pandemic is a difficult time for many organizations, including us, especially when it comes to organizational issues. The activities planned by us related to recruitment for the autumn edition were conducted online so as not to expose ourselves and the program partners to direct contact with other people. The prevailing market situation did not translate much into the number of applications to the program. As a matter of fact, we received almost 250 applications, 160 of which proceeded, after formal verification, to the next stage, which was substantive assessment. The analysis process was long, we assessed and compared the technologies of entrepreneurs with the specific needs of our partner companies in the areas of technology and innovation in advanced manufacturing, intelligent energy, health applications and insurance. We selected 11 innovative, creative and curious entrepreneurs. I am more than sure that thanks to our support the world will hear about them very quickly – said Łukasz Owczarek, Head of Acceleration at MIT Enterprise Forum CEE.
Startups that have qualified for the MIT Enterprise Forum CEE program get the chance to cooperate with international enterprises and accelerate in accordance with 24 Steps of Disciplined Entrepreneurship model developed by Bill Aulet, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). For the startups, it is also an opportunity for global networking, consultations with lawyers, patent attorneys or sales coaches, and a chance to establish business relations with potential partners and investors from the USA.
The upcoming edition of the MIT Enterprise Forum CEE program is different from the others, and thus unique due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. During the coming months of training, startups will have the opportunity to learn, among other things, how to make a pitch in front of the investor and how to communicate the most important information about their companies in less than 3 minutes – which, as we know, is not easy, but not impossible to achieve- said Linda Plano, Pitching Coach at MIT Enterprise Forum CEE.
Thanks to the cooperation with the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development and a grant awarded for the MIT Enterprise Forum CEE program, each of the companies starting acceleration will receive funding of up to PLN 200,000 for the implementation of the pilot project. Each pilot project will be implemented in cooperation with the selected corporate partner and with support of consulting services – We know that in the future it may result in a long-term cooperation. This is also the goal of our program, so that innovative technologies of entrepreneurs from Central and Eastern Europe find not only their clients, but also a suitable place in business, adds Mr Owczarek.
Once again, startups participating in the MIT Enterprise Forum CEE program will have the opportunity to go head-in-head in the CVC Young Innovator Awards competition, implemented in cooperation with CVC Capital Partners – an international consulting company. The stakes are high – a check worth PLN 100,000 for further business development. The competition is dedicated to young entrepreneurs (under 30) and the technology they offer should be of high social utility.
For the last four editions, we have award companies which are capable of building an attractive business model and respond to important social needs. This assumption is especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic, which substantially and constantly changes our reality. The best example of how to effectively combine these two assumptions is one of the winners of the competition – Genomtec. Two years ago, it won the competition as an ambitious startup. Today, it is a dynamic, but already fully developed company which is on the way to the stock exchange, and at the same time made a rapid turn by creating the first quick tests for coronavirus in Poland – says Krzysztof Krawczyk, Partner of CVC Capital Partners.
The list of startups which qualified to the program
Amorphis Pharma Development is a company that develops generically improved amorphous drugs which will become more accessible to patients. They will also be cheaper, more effective and less toxic to the body.
CyberStudio is a provider of selected solutions in the area of IT security, which ensures protection of the organization against external and internal cyber threats 24/7, all year round.
Dobry Prąd is a platform which compares energy offers. It provides users with an easy process to buy or sell renewable energy.
Hashiona is an application and a virtual clinic that helps patients struggling with Hashimoto’s disease and hypothyroidism to improve their quality of life.
Minte.ai is intelligent B2B software for insurance companies which reduces the time and cost of liquidating a personal claim, increases customer satisfaction and provides structured medical data.
Parkey is a platform which increases the efficiency of office parking space use by enabling employees to flexibly book parking spaces.
PayTicon: is a supplier and distributor of pre-paid products. Supported by a range of technological solutions, it helps both retailers and service providers to maximize their sales opportunities.
RevDeBug is an IT systems monitoring platform which removes the guesswork from identifying and fixing software bugs thus shortens its time by as much as 50%.
SaniSmart is a modern solution for the disposal of sewage, which monitors the level of a septic tank, forecasts the date of disposal and automates the emptying.
SEMONI is a software for business dedicated to semantic text analytics, based on the results of own research in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). The solution allows the user to reach over 80% of information which has so far been beyond the scope of the analysis.
Questpass is an innovative advertising system similar to a paywall. The payment in Questpass consists in indicating the correct answer to the question regarding the advertisement visible above. In return for the attention paid, the user is granted free access to the rest of the article.
The main partners of the program include three organizations, Adamed – Polish pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, market leader in new generation drugs, The Coca-Cola system companies in Poland – market leader in non-alcoholic beverages, and MCX – the core of a strong group of specialized companies, providing comprehensive FinTech, renewable energy and broadly understood smart city solutions. Supporting partners include CVC Capital Partners, HubHub, MDI Energia, Nationale-Nederlanden, PZU, Sollers Consulting and TVN Discovery Group. The implementation of the program is supported by a grant awarded to Foundation for Technology Entrepreneurship by the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development under Measure of the 2.5 SGOP Acceleration Programs.
