Wroclaw startups in Portugal. Founders Night as a window to the world

Founders Night is a networking event where startups have the opportunity to expand their business network, find partners, investors, and even potential customers. For the second time, they also had the chance to rehearse their speeches under the watchful eye of experienced speakers.

Poland has a special place in Europe

– Once again, we are a partner of the Founders Night event. And once again, we are in Lisbon at the Web Summit conference, which currently attracts around 80,000 people, innovators, investors, and the entire tech world," says Paulina Muszyńska, manager of Startup Wroclaw at the Wrocław Agglomeration Development Agency (ARAW).

During the opening ceremony of the Web Summit, its CEO, Paddy Cosgrave, said from the stage that Poland is a model for the new Europe. Motivated, ambitious, and well-organized. We are very happy that we were mentioned in a special way during this grand opening. We will do everything we can to confirm Paddy Cosgrave's words.

Paulina Muszyńska - manager of Startup Wrocław

– Founders Night is a Wrocław initiative. In terms of business development, Wrocław is ahead of everyone in many aspects. That is why we traditionally meet in Lisbon on the eve of the Web Summit, says ARAW president Magdalena Okulowska. "We also have an economic mission organized in synergy with the Marshal's Office of the Lower Silesian Province, which is why this time we have 22 entrepreneurs from Wrocław and Lower Silesia with us.

They pitched and listened to comments

Founders Night is also an opportunity to practice pitches. After all, the point of a short presentation is to get investors' attention and secure funding. Startups received constructive feedback on their presentations.

One of the pitchers at Founders Night was Marcin Matuszewski, co-founder and CPO of Owl Sentry. The company is based in Wrocław, but its representatives flew in to Founders Night straight from Silicon Valley in San Francisco.

“We have universal devices that monitor pest activity in a given location. At the moment, we have a system for rats and mice, and we are working on others for other pests,” explains the CPO. “I humbly accept the comments from this evening,” he adds.

Ernest Szydelski, president of Hustro and member of the Startup Founders board, oversaw the quality of the presentations. The president emphasizes that in order to stand out in today's world of innovation, especially AI-based innovation, you have to remember your originality.

Focus on your vision and technology, on your customers and your goal. Because technology is only a tool for achieving your goal. You also need to understand your customers' needs well and tailor the technology to their problem.

Ernest Szydelski - member of the board of Startup Wrocław

International dinner for the startup community

Founders Night is attended not only by startups, but also by investors. The networking event, now in its 7th year, has attracted the attention of the startup community from around the world.

Georgi Tonchev from MyCFO came to Web Summit from Bulgaria. He joined Founders Night to promote his startup.

“Our startup ecosystem is relatively young, as it is only about 10 years old and is still developing—quite well and quickly,” he says. “We have good engineering schools in Bulgaria, so our foundations are solid. Our problem is the lack of skills to commercialize our innovations. We are here because we are looking for funding and new experiences.”

“Most of the members of the Startup Founders association are already more experienced entrepreneurs. That's why we simply try to help and solve problems in an atmosphere of mutual understanding, trust, and complete honesty,” explains Ernest Szydelski, explaining the idea behind the evening.

Paulina Walkowiak, co-founder and CEO of C:UX, lives in Lisbon. Founders Night is an opportunity for her to meet friends and make new business contacts.

“Every year, there are new faces, people we have the opportunity to meet here. We don't have access to the Polish network on a daily basis, but we work on the Polish market. For us, this is a great opportunity to meet right here,” she says.

Wrocław startups in the world – why are they important?

We need to show our startups to the world, and show our startups how other ecosystems and innovators around the world work. We make it easier for them to attract investors and partners and to gain markets outside Poland. There is more room for action here, and that is what Web Summit and Founders Night are for.

Paulina Muszyńska, manager of Startup Wrocław

“We focus on startups, which are becoming our business strategy in Wrocław. Hence the umbrella project Startup Wrocław, because it is these companies that are the gateway to innovation and development of the country,” emphasizes ARAW president Magdalena Okulowska.