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StartupAwards.SK celebrates Slovak startup scene
ondrej.gandel Posted On November 25, 2013


Last Friday, the Municipal Theatre in downtown Bratislava was the place to be to find out about the startup scene in Slovakia. The annual StartupAwards.SK, organised by Neulogy among others, promotes innovation and entrepreneurship. We were there to get a glimpse of the event.

General impression   

This year the StartupAwards.SK felt almost like a tradition – familiar faces, content and place. The event delivered on networking and included interesting panels, although the final announcement of the awards felt a little flat.

Media attention

One of the interesting views that one of the panels offered, concerned the media (a.k.a. inventures.eu). “Media should do for startups the same they did for Slovak ice hockey: run success stories of young guys who made a fortune in the US to a point that inspired lots of young boys to play hockey,” said Pekka Mäki of VC firm 3TS Capital Partners.

We certainly felt that the national media too were taking this with an increased interest as Ivan Stefunko, chairman of Neulogy recently was on the cover of Trend magazine. All, however, agreed that the media play an important role in the startup scene and should cover the scene even more. Well, we’re up for that!

And the winners are… 

As every year, the most innovative companies with a scalable product and global ambition took home awards in four different categories.

Art& Design
Culcharge is a small and flexible USB charge and data cable for iPhone and Android phones that can be attached to your key chain. 

Digital 
InHiro is a tool that helps employers create job ads that can be shared on social networks.

Science
The team behind Gas Sensor has been working on a sensor that ensures more precise measurement of gases. Their product is mainly used for safety reasons in various industries such as nuclear energy. 

Society
Team Speekle have come up with a software system to help children with speech disorders.

All four lucky winners receive a paid trip to a startup city of their choice and have the opportunity to meet investors, entrepreneurs and other leaders. We are curious to see if the Slovak startup scene will gain even more momentum – the event proved that they are at full strength. 


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StartupAwards.SK looking for tech innovators
alexandrac Posted On October 15, 2013


If you’re a young Slovak technology company, listen up! On 22 November, the Slovak startup community is coming together to celebrate innovative minds and creative vision. If you’re one of them, make sure to apply for the awards in one of four categories by 1 November!

The StartupAwards.SK is an annual competition for early-stage tech Slovak companies, or projects that are technologically innovative in their respective fields. “Unlike most startup events, Startup Awards.SK wants to highlight the best of all innovative business across various disciplines including the digital segment, science and engineering, art and design and social enterprise. We aim to be seen as the “Oscars” for innovative companies in Slovakia,” wrote the StartupAwards.SK team in a press release.

The Awards

StartupAwards.SK will celebrate innovative projects in four areas:

Startup Award DIGITAL is geared towards technological startups working on innovative solutions in IT, web, mobile and media. Last year’s DIGITAL winner was Excalibur, a startup that provides seamless security for all websites using only a mobile phone as the login token. Walk to the computer and you are logged into Facebook or Twitter; walk away and you’re logged out.

Startup Award SCIENCE awards business models born in science and engineering labs. Last year, A*space won the SCIENCE award for their work building smartphone devices and disposable kits for human pathogen diagnostics.

Startup Award ART & DESIGN recognises tech businesses that offer products and solutions in art and design. Asana took the 2012 ART & DESIGN title for building the world’s first office chair with unique seat that copies the anatomy of one’s calves.

Startup Award SOCIETY is given to the tech startup or project with the highest social impact. Last year Mapz received this recognition for their work in tackling the need for the physical presence of an assistant for a blind person. Their product uses live video streaming from a smartphone camera to direct the blind person via remote directions.

What’s in it for the winners?

Dreaming of Silicon Valley, Skolkovo or Singapore? No problem! The jury’s favourites in each category get to take a “knowledge tour” in the innovation and business hub of their choice. Also, the winners will benefit from service packages from Neulogy and KPMG.

However, there’s more than a trip (as awesome as it may be) and a service package. Innovative startups have an opportunity to mix and mingle with other entrepreneurs and top business managers, to raise funding for their company or projects, to gain media exposure and even to win tickets to major European and US startup events.

How to apply?

To be eligible for participation in this year’s Startup Awards.SK, you need to be an early-company that is either registered in Slovakia or has one Slovak citizen or resident on the team. However, having an incorporated company is not a must.

Startups can either apply or get nominated. To apply, you need a one-page executive summary about your startup, your team member profiles and a 10-slide presentation. Submit your application here by November 1.

If you’d like to nominate a project for the competition, just shoot at an email to this address by the same deadline.

The judges are looking for early-stage startups or projects that are scalable, provide high value added and have the potential to make regional or global impact. Good luck! 


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StartupAwards.SK Bratislava
ondrej.gandel Posted On November 26, 2012


In a country where the closest translation of the word “entrepreneur” (podnikateľ) to some extent can still have the meaning “thief”, the need to recognise positive change taking part in the startup scene is perhaps more important than anywhere else. Startupawards.sk organised by Neulogy, intended to point out entrepreneurs in the best meaning of this word. Young, passionate and outspoken, Slovak entrepreneurs that presented at the event illustrate the point that Slovakia doesn’t only provide “great workforce but also great ideas” (a line we borrowed from a father-like figure of the event, Ivan Štefunko, chairman of Neulogy).

As Christian Mandl, founder of later failed SkyEurope airlines, emphasised, Slovak startups must think about a broader market than Slovakia if they want to attract investors. That was certainly the case for some of them. Goldenfish Lighting, for example, wants to conquer the US lightning market, and Prizeo aims at UK consumers and charitable donations. It seems that some of the proverbial big fish feel that the Slovak pond is too small for them.

While the startups on stage spoke greatly about the local scene, the event was also a success for the incubators and co-working spaces. In the past year, Bratislava has seen emergence of few of them. Most recently, Connect Coworking has opened a few weeks ago. There was a strong presence of startups from well-established Spot and we couldn’t help feel a certain affinity of the audience towards it.

Unlike other events that usually focus on web and mobile startups, the event took a broader view and added Science, Design & Arts and Society as categories to its Digital focus.

And here are the winners in each of the categories: 

A*space: fast DNA testing at low costs. Combines nanotechnology with DNA research.

ASANA: the best presentation of a chair that we have ever seen. The chair is inspired by a natural yoga sitting position. It seems that it not only looks great, but sells as well – 900 chairs sold for 600 euros a piece to date.

Mapz: helping the blind navigate via a body-attached camera and a guide belt which help to make the guidance visceral.

Excalibur: one login solution that wants to rule them all. Use your mobile phone to login to all of your websites securely and without the need of a username or password.


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