As one of the flagship projects supported by the Visegrad Fund, the V4 Startup Force mentor and exchange program has been implemented since 2018 by a consortium of V4 organisations that support startups, coordinated by Design Terminal, an international innovation agency in Hungary focusing on entrepreneurial development..
Improving the V4 innovation ecosystem and connections between young entrepreneurs and experts in the region is a traditional V4 priority, included also in the current Hungarian Presidency's programme.
Two editions of the V4 Startup Force program are organised every year to provide training and business networking support to selected young entrepreneurs from the V4 countries through inspirational events, access to local accelerators, startups from other industries and potential clients.
The spring semester of the V4 Startup Force kicked off with an impressive scouting period with 81 applicants, of whom 17 were invited to the V4 Virtual Bootcamp. Four very promising startups, BeiT (CZ), B-LOCK (HU), Ecobean (PL) and Try the colors (SK) made it to the final part of the program, the V4 Startup Force.
BeiT offers facility managers with IoT devices for energy management, a Saas platform including automated accounting and billing features and a mobile application for end-users.
B-LOCK is a manufacturer of a bike docking station that offers a secure drop-off for bikes & on-the-spot charging for e-bikes.
Ecobean is a manufacturing company: they create everyday objects from coffee waste and sell them to coffee shops. Thanks to their technology, all particles are turned into vendible materials, therefore closing the loop of coffee waste.
Try the Colors is an integrated app for home decor & paint. They visualize how the customer’s flat would look like, let them order the color online, ship it & offer a worker to paint the place. They also offer a white label solution for paint companies.
During the three-week-long Startup Force program, teams had been participating in online workshops, business meetings, and cultural events organized by DEX IC, Startup Hub Poland, Campus Cowork, and Design Terminal. For the last week of the program, the four startups have traveled to Budapest to meet potential business partners in person, take part in community-building events, and get introduced to Hungarian culture.
