ACCELERATOR

7TH WORKING GROUP & 4TH STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING IN LIBEREC

On 2-3rd October 2018, the partnership held its 7th Working Group & 4th Steering Committee meeting in Liberec, Czech Republic.

The scheduling of the meeting was as follows: Partners shared their experiences on WP4 Pilots (Activity 4.2) with presentations and discussion, joint monitoring and evaluation of pilots, and improvement of Output 3.3 Joint guide to develop acceleration programmes, moderated by ASIMCOV. The partnership looked through the tasks of WP5 activities (Setting up transnational innovation networks, Cooperation agreements, Partner level and joint recommendations to public bodies) moderated by Republic Agency for the Development of SMEs of Republic of Sprska.

The expert of the lead partner also hold a presentation about project management activities, upcoming tasks, reporting activities and the financial part of the project. The representative of WP2 also hosted a presentation about communication activities.

THE 2ND PILOT BY THE REPUBLIC AGENCY FOR DEVELOPMENT OF SME'S, IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

The Republic Agency for Development of Small and Medium Enterprises implements the second accelerator pilot programme in the Republic of Srpska/Bosnia and Herzegovina in cooperation with the Agency for Economic Development of the City of Prijedor and the FORESDA project which is co-financed by the European Union from the ERDF and IPA funds under the Danube Transnational Programme.

Of the 12 selected teams, over the past two months, 9 teams have successfully passed education and mentoring through which they mastered the basic business skills and obtained the necessary knowledge to develop their business ideas. With the support of experienced trainers and mentors, they worked on developing and testing their business model, entrepreneurial competencies, presentation skills, market research, marketing and financial plan, and they were also familiarized with potential sources of financing and international business.

All teams are working on preparing of their business plans which was presented at the final event that held on December 14, 2018 in Prijedor. 

2ND ROUND OF ACCELERATOR PILOT BY ASIMCOV

Between September – October 2018 ASIMCOV implemented the improved version of the Accelerator Pilot program, involving more experts from all around the country.

From 11 selected startups 10 finished the program and 7 ideas were presented at the Accelerator Gala organized on the 2nd of November. ASIMCOV succeed in involving local financial institutes to support the initiative and the young entrepreneurs. A community of ”difference makers ” has been established around the Romanian pilot and ASIMCOV is preparing new activities  where these people – mentors, experts and start-uppers – will work together as well.

Some of the start-ups had the opportunity to become cluster members during the program and this way the management team ensures the sustainability of the initiative. In conclusion, it’s important for any participant to be included in value chains in order to provide relevant support in the long term. At the same time, small-town accelerators have to be more comprehensive than accelerators from urban agglomerations, as challenges are more specific and therefore the solutions have to be more personalized as well.

THE SECOND PILOT OF ACCELERATOR HAS STARTED IN SOFIA

The second pilot of Accelerator North-West Bulgaria, executed by Technology Centre Sofia, started successful on the weekend of 08-09 December. All 12 selected start-uppers (5 singles and 7 teams) actively participated in the event.

“Successful Pitching” was presented by Thomas Westerhoven. All participants have to improve in this area. Snezhanka Grosdanova presented the instruments for the elaboration of a good business plan.

The economic environment in North-West Bulgaria is the key to a long-term safe work of the starters. Jürgen Eisele (Manager of Technology Centre Sofia) presented data and analyses from North-West Bulgaria. Further teaching units on this seminar weekend were the avoidance of mistakes in the design of the website, the use of electronic media and the control of the appearance of the company. The creation of a personal profile should help the participants to find out their strengths and weaknesses.

Three traditional business ideas in the field of tourism came together with a broker of tourist offers. Three participants come from industrial production and one starter from the service sector. Another 4 start-ups have their focus on IT. Until the next seminar weekend, the participants will be able to clarify and refine their ideas.

On 25 January, the Technology Centre Sofia will invite some stakeholders from North-West Bulgaria and the best starters will present their ideas.

8TH WORKING GROUP MEETING IN LJUBLJANA

On 29-30th November 2018, the partnership held its 8th Working Group meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The scheduling of the meeting was as follows: Partners shared their experiences of the 2nd round of their pilots on WP4 Pilots (Activity 4.2) with presentations and discussion, joint monitoring and evaluation of pilots, and improvement of Output 3.3 Joint guide to develop acceleration programmes, moderated by ASIMCOV. The partnership discussed the progress of the tasks of WP5 activities (Setting up transnational innovation networks, Cooperation agreements, Partner level and joint recommendations to public bodies) moderated by Republic Agency for the Development of SMEs of Republic of Sprska.

The expert of the lead partner also hold a presentation about project management activities, upcoming tasks, reporting activities and the financial part of the project. The representative of WP2 also hosted a presentation about communication activities. On the 2 days event the INNOHCP project got opportunity for the introduction and the common points of the two projects explored. It created the opportunity of capitalization among the two projects and they could be supporting each other.

2ND PILOT OF DEXIC ACCELERATOR

The second pilot of the DEXIC Accelerator will take place from 1st of April to 10th of May in the Czech Republic. Recently, DEX Innovation Centre started a digital promotional campaign and opened the applications as well. 

Nowadays, DEXIC scouts through suitable startups; plans road trips & meetups and all activities regarding the Accelerator are supported by a social media campaign. Startups can apply until the 28th of February 2019. 

Before the main programme itself, DEXIC BootCamp will be used as part of the evaluation procedure. The goal is to have a strong pool of digital startups with impactful innovation. Out of 14-16 startups, DEXIC will choose half of them that will attend the DEXIC Accelerator.

In the 2nd batch of DEXIC Accelerator, some significant changes took place. Increase in length of the acceleration programme from 4 weeks to 6 weeks was necessary in order to give startups sufficient time for their day-to-day operations.

Secondly, lead mentoring in the 2nd batch will be done through cooperation and managerial support of other team members as opposed to individual work of Lead mentor in the 1st batch. Another improvement is related to the transfer of information & knowledge of startup teams between mentors due to the daily pre- and post-briefing with a Lead Mentor. As the last change, the final #DEMODAY will take place in Prague instead of Liberec since it is easier to attract the investors.

DEX Innovation Centre is looking forward to meeting again all the interesting people and their innovative digital startups!

ALBA ACCELERATOR HAS COMPLETED ITS LATEST ROUND IN HUNGARY

Alba Accelerator, the Hungarian pilot of the ACCELERATOR project run and managed by Central Transdanubian Regional Innovation Agency (CTRIA) with the support of Széchenyi Venture Capital Management Ltd. (SZTA) has successfully completed its autumn round. The nine participating teams had a chance to present their projects to a panel of investors, 22nd November, in Székesfehérvár. 

CTRIA and SZTA received applications of startups and teams with a business idea and/or proof of concept for this year’s second round of the program, which several active and esteemed thematic experts from the Hungarian startup ecosystem and mentors supported. Their solid experience offered assistance in the launch or further development of freshly started projects.

The first three winners of the second startup day as well as of the pilot programme are:

1. InsackTM: The company’s goal is to provide edible insect products in non-visible form for a wide range of consumers with special needs. Since insect powders have a carbohydrate-reducing and nutrient-enhancing effect in the dough of bakery products, it could efficiently be used as nutrition supplement, additive or raw material for the consumers and for the industry, in a sustainable way.

2. WarrantIQ: A blockchain based solution to manage and trace warranty documents. It stores the e-warranty documents with the involvment of all participants: consumers, retailers, carriers, banks and insurance providers. WarrantIQ can also be used to find the nearest service points and check whether the desired product is original or not. It also offers small scale loans and extended warranties.

3. Dental Scanner Solutions: Its team is working on the development of a new 3D dental scanner that, due to its favorable parameters can replace the traditional sampling procedure. Thanks to this new technology, market prices would be reduced to less than half of the usual price.