An idea whose time has come
Did you realise? Entrepreneurship is happening in our region: in Bratislava, Bucharest, Prague and Vienna. Increasingly so in Budapest, too!
As of lately, weekend workshops are organised, startup competitions are held, incubators are opening, courses are being offered for those who want to take their destiny into their on hands and start a business.
At the same time, the JEREMIE funds are becoming more active. The number of ventures funded is growing; Gravity R&D, Noispot, PocketGuide are but a few examples. Their activity is complemented by firms like Day One or Colabs Startup Center, who look at seed and pre-seed investments. George Soros donated $7.5 m to promote entrepreneurship, trying to revitalize his tired Business School. The media was and is very slow taking notice, but now there is a platform for orientation: startup.lap.hu.
The European Entrepreneurship Foundation (EEF) Â Â Â Â Â Â
EEF was trend setter in promoting entrepreneurship in Budapest. As an experiment, the foundation launched its first program in 2009 at the St. Ignatius College, with 15 university students. The second course took place in the Ybl Club. Over hundred people applied, responding to a simple Google page announcement and ranging between 20 and 50 years of age. For it is never too soon, nor is it ever too late to become an entrepreneur. Since, EEF groomed 40 venture projects and 140 participants so far in Budapest alone! 10 nationalities; course ratings 6.5 on a scale from 1 to 7.  EEF alumni joined the founders of Gravity R&D and PocketGuide, many became founders themselves; BPForex, DragOnTape, Easyling, Joszaki, Ourstyle, Remagine Technologies, Waterstars etc.
JEREMIE Venture ContestÂ
Venture Accelerator is the sixth entrepreneurship program we run in Budapest. We screen applicants thoroughly, admit only high potential and committed teams. From the many teams applied, 10 were admitted to our 10 weeks intensive course, 7 made it to the finals. For the first time, we invited the capos of the JEREMIE Funds to judge the venture plans, hence the name JEREMIE Venture Contes.
