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A company from Wroclaw among innovative startups MIT Enterprise Forum CEE

A virtual clinic helping patients struggling with Hashimoto, a platform that allows employees to flexibly book parking spaces, and a system for the production of medicines without side effects - these are just some of the 11 projects that will compete in November for a weekly bootcamp in Boston and PLN 100,000 in the competition Young Innovator Awards. The two-month acceleration in the 4th edition of the MIT EF CEE program is starting.

The international accelerator MIT Enterprise Forum CEE is an initiative of the Technology Entrepreneurship Foundation, which has successfully implemented 8 editions of the program during 5 years of its activity. The overriding goal of the program is, above all, to support and promote startups in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as, thanks to a global network of cooperating companies, to help in acquiring new customers, investors or business partners.

- We received almost 250 applications, of which over 160 candidates passed, after formal verification, to the next stage - substantive assessment. The analysis process was long, we assessed and compared the technologies of entrepreneurs with the specific needs of our partner companies in the areas of technology and innovation in the areas of advanced manufacturing, intelligent energy, health applications and insurance. We have selected 11 innovative, creative and curious entrepreneurs. I am more than sure that thanks to our support the world will hear about them very quickly - says Łukasz Owczarek, Head of Acceleration at MIT Enterprise Forum CEE.

Wroclaw inhabitants among the best

The group of 11 innovative startups includes Semoni, a company from Wroclaw, which offers DeepTech solutions in the field of semantic text analytics.

- It is a great honor for us. As part of the program, we will take part in intensive entrepreneurship workshops conducted according to the methodology of 24 steps by prof. Bill Aulet, and we will also receive mentoring support from experts from leading companies on the Polish and international market. It is also an opportunity for valuable networking - says Katarzyna Janiszewska, vice president of Semoni.

- As part of the program, we will also have the pleasure to cooperate with TVN Discovery, for which we will prepare a tool for semantic qualitative analysis of consumer research. Our goal is to automate and deepen the analytics of respondents and clients' statements so that the results of the analyzes support TVN in shaping the Customer Experience strategy - adds the Vice President of Semoni.

Startups at MIT Enterprise Forum CEE

Startups that have qualified for the MIT Enterprise Forum CEE program get the chance to cooperate with international enterprises and undergo acceleration in accordance with the model of 24 steps of disciplined entrepreneurship by Bill Aulet, professor of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It is also a chance for global networking, consultations with lawyers, patent attorneys and sales coaches. The chance to establish business relations with potential partners and investors from the USA is also important.

- The upcoming next edition of the MIT Enterprise Forum CEE program is different than the others, and thus unique due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. During the coming months of training, startups will have the opportunity to learn, among other things, how to present themselves well to the investor and how to tell the most important information about their company in less than 3 minutes - which, as we know, is not easy, but not impossible to implement - emphasises Linda Plano, Pitching Coach at MIT Enterprise Forum CEE.

Co-financing for companies

Thanks to the cooperation with the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development and the grant awarded for the project concerning the MIT Enterprise Forum CEE program, each of the companies starting acceleration will receive funding of up to PLN 200,000 for the implementation of the pilot project, which will take place in cooperation with the selected corporate partner, as well as support in the form of advisory services.

- We know from experience that this may result in long-term cooperation in the future. This is also the goal of our program, so that innovative technologies of entrepreneurs from the region of Central and Eastern Europe find not only their customers, but also a suitable place in business - adds Łukasz Owczarek.

CVC Young Innovator Awards competition

Once again, startups participating in the MIT Enterprise Forum CEE program will have the opportunity to compete in the CVC Young Innovator Awards competition, carried out thanks to the partnership with CVC Capital Partners - an international consulting company. The prize is high-stakes - a check worth PLN 100,000 for further business development. Entrepreneurs (under 30) can participate in the competition, and the technology they offer should be of high social utility.

- In the competition for four editions, we award companies that can build an attractive business model and respond to important social needs. This assumption is especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic, which constantly changes our reality extremely deeply. The best example of how to effectively combine these two assumptions is one of the winners of the competition - Genomtec. Two years ago, it won the competition as an ambitious start-up. Today, it is a dynamic, but already fully developed company, which is on the way to the stock exchange, and at the same time made a rapid return by creating the first in Poland quick tests for coronavirus - says Krzysztof Krawczyk, Partner of CVC Capital Partners.