Startup Campus

Startup Campus

Startup Campus was originally launched as university-based incubation program and its initial goal was to create an „innovation acceleration system” to support and sustain national universities, research centres and utilize the untapped innovation potential of R&D projects. Since its launch, the program expanded to additional countries including the UK and Germany, and has also become a dominant player among the V4 countries - Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Checz Republic – and the CEE region. In addition, It has a strong collaboration with many international events (like „Get in the Ring”) which has provided a great foundation for the Asian expansion.  

Since its inception in 2015, additional innovative business incentive programs have been launched the Startup Campus program has expanded even further into a global brand with four key pillars:

1.     Education

2.     Incubation

3.     Consulting

4.     Investment

1.    EDUCATION

Through the program, we wish to set up an „innovation acceleration system” to find and support the potential of universities and research centres that have not been exploited. The program aims to develop innovative ideas into new enterprises and to accelerate local R&D products and services based on knowledge transfer models and university incubation methodologies. Moreover, it helps young innovators to develop their entrepreneurial skills and broaden their business knowledge.

The idea initially emerged from EH Invest`s non profit orientated sister company, Enterprise Hungary with the support of the Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office. The European Commission and the Ministry of National Development honoured this entrepreneurship incentive activity with the European Enterprise Promotion Award Award in 2017.

The program is composed of three sections, including a series of workshop sessions. The trainings end with a so-called Demo Day, where the teams take the stage to present their milestones and innovative ideas to investors.

This programme currently focuses on Hungarian students living and working in the UK, and will be expanded in the near future.

Startup Campus London and Berlin

These programmes encourage young Hungarians living in the United Kingdom or in Germany to develop their innovative entrepreneurial skills.

Participants receive professional trainings that cover the most important topics of entrepreneurship, such as team design, target audience identification, market segregation, business model building, and pitching techniques and they will also be assisted in starting and developing their business. Trainings are held by incubation professionals with international experience. The four training sessions come to a close at the Demo Day event, where the best teams present their business ideas to a professional jury, made up of key players of the host country’s startup scene.  

The main objective of the Startup Campus London program is to help young talents to develop their entrepreneurial skills and broaden their knowledge.

Structure:

• Business idea and team
• Customer Buyer / Customer Persona Model
• Business Model (Business Model Canvas)
• Pitch training, preparing for Demo Day
• Demo Day

The mission of the Startup Campus organizers is to support the talented youth in becoming successful European entrepreneurs, launching a positive business, and maintaining social and personal connection with Hungary.  By 2018, around 100 young entrepreneurs have taken part in the training, and the first successful investment has already been made.

2.    INCUBATION:

Through working with many startups over the years, it is evident, that their challenge lies in global expansion. These companies are unsure about the: HOW? WHEN? WHERE?....Therefore, there is a significant demand for a service, that provides professional help with global expansion and can guarantee a local presence for the startups.

Startup Campus operates as a decentralised incubator with several interlaced locations including Berlin, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Hong Kong, Singapore, Budapest, London and more to follow.

Whereas competitors usually focus on one country or industry, the biggest advantage of Startup Campus are its interconnected bases, and local teams that focus on three key industries in each respective city. These groups stay connected to help build bridges between international ecosystems.

Startup campus believes in the importance of remaining selective and only contracting quality businesses that mirror its credibility based on their trusted business potential. We create a push and pull system for local and foreign startups to enhance their global expansion initiatives. Furthermore, we help minimize costs and outsource opportunities to boost their competitive advantage.

The incubation programme can be divided into the following two programmes, with several stages:

Soft landing programme

The Startup Campus Soft Landing Programme serves as a talent and modelling agency for startups and investors to help mature businesses to enter in a foreign market in a smooth way. It creates a push and pull system for local and foreign startups to enhance their global expansion initiatives. The programme has three stages:

1. Pre-Validation:

After successfully completing the application process, the startup competencies are compiled and assessed with regards to market selection.

2. Validation

This includes a detailed screening of the startups and their markets. At this stage, potential customers and distributors are located and startups are prepared the business for market entry. Possible funding opportunities are assessed, and the organization enters startups to participate in relevant events and connects them with local partners.

3. Business development

Following a successful market validation, this stage is dedicated to market entry and business development services, including. At this stage businesses are assisted with regards to their operation, which includes a comprehensive range of business development services.

Pre-organised business tours

Focused, fast-paced, three-day business trips to connect startups with key players of the particular market.

3.     CONSULTING

Besides providing the required financial aid, incubated enterprises receive professional mentoring from the beginning. Further activities follow a gradual progress, building on completed and ongoing processes. The Startup Campus organization gives startups constructive feedback in order to improve and enhance their idea, business plan, strategy and more.

4.    INVESTMENTS:

The intention is to create a system that brings innovative projects to the surface and has the ability to support the underused business innovation potential with our three stages investment model:

Development stage

The first stage is open for startup teams with established enterprises, working on the development and realization of their innovative ideas. Startup enterprises can receive a financial support up to $25,000. The central element of this stage is the validation of the idea and creation of the business model that will be the cornerstone of planning realistic business processes and goals in the future.

Acceleration stage 

During the second stage the focus is on prototyping the product or service. The applying startups may receive funds up to $60,000, to elaborate their industrial results and set a path towards potential applications. The goal of this stage is to help enterprises create their innovations and business models.

Seed stage

During the third and final stage startups can receive $300,000. The goal of this stage is the finalization of the product/service, the fine tuning of the research and the acceleration of the market entry. In this stage the focus is on the market entry. Based on their results, the teams build their communication towards buyers and investors (pitch coaching). The enterprises prepare for real negotiations with investors of the private sector (negotiations training).

EVENTS

Startup Campus V4 Global Tour

The long-term innovation ecosystem of the region can only be achieved through global market collaboration. The Startup Campus V4 Global Tour includes conferences, exhibitions and events worldwide, combining key startup ecosystem operators in the relative continents and regions. The main purpose of these events is to connect startups with important investors and to create necessary environment with various interactive workshops, conferences and round table discussions.

The mission of the series of 10 cities and venues is also to highlight the economic and innovation potential of the V4 countries:

1. ISTANBUL – WBAF – February 18-20, 2018
2. BERLIN – Startup Camp Berlin – April 11-13, 2018
3. USA EAST COAST TOUR (Boston, Connecticut, NYC) – May 6-13, 2018
4. VIENNA – PIONEERS – May 24-25, 2018
5. LONDON – LONDON TECH WEEK – June 13-16, 2018
6. HONG KONG – RISE – July 9-12, 2018
7. TEL AVIV – DLD – September 5-6, 2018
8. DUBAI – GITEX – October 14-18, 2018
9. LOS ANGELES – LA SUMMIT – November 2-5, 2018
10. BUDAPEST – STARGATE – November 29-30, 2018

This event series guarantees:

• Development of international business relationships
• Familiarization of the domestic and regional startup ecosystem with global market players, incubators, accelerators, investors
• Global validation, investment and market acquisition for the outgoing startups
• Gobal promotion of the CEE region and, above all, the economic and touristic development of Hungary, thereby strengthening its role within the CEE region.

For more information on the full Global Tour, visit: http://startupcampus.hu/en/global-tour/

Startup Campus University Innovative Idea Battle

In 2018, Enterprise Hungary, organized the first university idea competition in the region in collaboration with Hiventures. Startup Campus University offers students of 10 European countries the opportunity to present and validate their ideas in front of investors and market participants.

The aim of the initiative is to discover new, innovative ideas, to encourage entrepreneurship, to foster the emergence of innovative ideas from the university and to promote regional cooperation. Startup Campus University also aims to provide closer collaboration between large companies, universities and investors.

University students with innovative entrepreneurial ideas or prototypes can take part in the program and complete their studies in the following countries: Hungary, Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia.

Following the online application, 16 student teams were selected by the professional jury will take part in a two-day preparation in Budapest, where the best 8 chosen can proceed to the finals in Vienna, at the Pioneers event. The 8 finalist teams get one step closer to attaining the Hiventures’ €30.000 incubation investment offer, following the training sessions. The winning team has the chance to receive an investment of up to €500.000 based on the decision of a jury of international investors.

This will be part of the Startup Campus V4 Global Tour to Vienna in May.

For more information please visit:  http://startupcampus.hu/en/scu

Additional Past Events:

Get in the Ring:

Startup Campus has the exclusive license for hosting the international Get in the Ring! competition of Hungary and the regional finals of Central-Europe. In 2015 Get in the Ring! was organized on 4 continents in 80 countries with the participation of 10,000 innovative enterprises. During the two Hungarian events 50 startups introduced themselves to hundreds of viewers, and a jury of investors and experts on the field of innovative business development and incubation. In the 2016/17 semester EH Invest will host the Central-European competitions of Get in the Ring! and the regional finals in Budapest with the participation of Austria, Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic.

The main sponsors of the competition are the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFIH) and the PADA Foundation of the Hungarian National Bank (MNB).

The Roadshow

In 2017, following the success of the 2016 trainings, Startup Campus continued with its Roadshow. The main goal was to involve the members of the local ecosystem, to search for new startup ideas and support them. With the help of Hiventures, we have organized a series of information events. The destinations included the biggest Hungarian cities as well as London and Berlin.

A further objective is to establish the university-based entrepreneurial knowledge transfer in collaboration with higher education institutions in Berlin, London, Budapest, Debrecen, Győr, Miskolc, Veszprém, Pécs, Szeged.

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