EEF News

“This was our best event ever” – commented Peter Záboji, president of the European Entrepreneurship Foundation (EEF).

The finals of its 6th Accelerator Course in Budapest, dubbed as the Jeremie Venture Contest took place on 5 December 2011 at Corvinus University. More than 100 young entrepreneurs showed up, witnessing the venture plan presentation of the teams making it to the finals. In the end, the evening turned into a highly successful networking event of the Budapest ecosystem.

The audience

Seven contender teams of enthusiastic entrepreneurs, aged 19 to 42 years, presented their ventures in front of a panel consisting of lead partners of Jeremie Funds. The atmosphere was charged with motivation and this is exactly what would-be self-employers are longing for. Entrepreneurial spirit, the so-called “E-virus” was all over the place and it can be caught easily if one is curious and courageous enough to attend and listen. “God has not created us as employees. Take your fate in your own hands!” was Peter’s introduction. “The four major factors determining a startup’s success are: encouragement, role models, teamwork and fighting spirit.” As one attendee saw it: “Venture Accelerator is a unique, unmatched program in Hungary, and it provides exactly what modern entrepreneurs need: inspiration and guidance, with focus, efficiency and authenticity.” The large audience and the electrifying atmosphere clearly proved that there is a great need for such forums in Hungary, people are starving for motivation. EEF’s courses feature the very best of role models: Prezi founder Adam Somlai or Marton Szoke who sold his IndexTools to Yahoo. In the absence of an experienced role model they never found their own company – even if they possess thrilling new ideas. And as the course has proven, ideas we do have in abundance!

Panel of Judges

Zoltán Piroska, serial entrepreneur, CEO of Greener One, Inc. a San Francisco based company sees a lot of space for growth: “Central Europe is 10-15 years behind the US in the evolution of start-ups. Hungary has a great potential to succeed, the quality of education is very high here.” He also underlined the importance of creating an “ecosystem”, a framework to test ideas and where funding is available. Zoltán is optimistic: “We are in the beginning of creating such an environment here” – he says. The challenge is to throw seeds on fertile ground and to add know-how and motivation as fertilizers to grow the plants. This is what EEF and the Spin-Off Club are experts of: bringing together bright youngsters with experienced business professionals. “Our role is not so much to select, not so much to criticize – but it is to build, support and encourage” – said Zoltán Bruckner from Primus Ventures, who sat on the Panel of Judges. Investors not only can kick-start fledging companies – if they spot an investment opportunity in an embryonic firm, they will not hesitate to make it grow. As Kristóf Bárány, Investment Director of DBH (another Jeremie Fund) commented: “Some of them are real startups, where an idea has emerged and they are trying to put together a business model. Two or three of the participants are close to being mature for investment.”

Networking in the Aula

Such an event is a perfect occasion to exchange ideas, to gain motivation and to learn, in order to understand how venture capital works. “I would like to know more about startup financing, especially about angel and seed investments. I loved the inspirational spirit of the sessions” – said one attendee. And he is right: events organized by EEF have a strong international flavor. A business cannot really be successful in today’s economic circumstances if confined within a single country: in reality, borders exist solely in our minds; the world has opened up and if someone starts a company, the target should be the international market. However, contenders had to face stark reality when it came to evaluating business plans. “I liked the mentorship and we received very honest opinions. Sometimes it felt harsh, we learnt how to deal with it and how to develop based on the judges’ comments” – said Tamás Haidegger, the founder of Hand-in-Scan, a startup company. Omar H. Gassama, the creator of DUSU, an IT startup admitted that they should have done more homework on finance and deep market knowledge is also a must. The evening offered a great opportunity to build lucrative business relationships too. As a participant underlined: “For me, the networking part was the best this year, I’ve met great people. What I find even more important than the event itself.” Professionals with different backgrounds, career stages and goals, with one common characteristic: they are all infected with the E-virus, the arduous desire to build companies, a commitment to make a change in their and other people’s lives. They took up on the whole world – and seemingly enjoy it.

The 7 Venture Teams