We’ve all surely experienced the impact of the invasion of Ukraine on our lives. The internet is filled with heartbreaking videos of civilians desperately fleeing their country, women and children venturing out into the world alone, and men taking up arms to defend their homes.

The whole of Europe is helping Ukraine with a unity that has not been seen for a long time. In almost every major city, there are collection points, free shelters, food and other supplies for Ukrainian refugees, not to mention the fundraising efforts of many charities and others!

Ukraine is also extremely devastated in terms of IT and technology, which includes not only a plethora of startups and major tech companies, but also the research and development offices of some of the world’s biggest tech brands.

The European startup ecosystem, as much as any other sector, is actively taking part in the action to support Ukraine.

Providing travel and resources

Estonia is continuously assisting startup founders in obtaining visas and reorganizing their headquarters. The ” For Ukrainians” page provides ongoing, up-to-date information on how to arrive and stay in Estonia, as well as how to relocate a company to Estonia, ensuring uninterrupted business operations.

In the Berlin startup scene, a unified tech-backed movement has been launched thanks to Thomas Duscha, which helps refugees with supplies and passenger transport, job and home searches, and free mobile services. Duschal’s movement, like many others, can be supported through PayPal here.

Lifesaver and Techfugees are working together to transport and deliver pre-loaded power banks to Poland, from where many will be sent to the west of Ukraine. You can help here.

In addition, Techfugees’ employees are working double-time, creating sustainable digital solutions to help displaced people access a variety of resources, including transportation and relocation alternatives.

Uber teams are working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to keep affected employees, riders and drivers safe, and partnering with NGOs to support local efforts.

Like Uber, Bolt is also helping by donating 5% of every order placed in Europe to NGOs, including the Red Cross.

Providing accommodation

Station F in Paris, the largest startup campus in the world, which was visited by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in 2019, is providing free accommodation to Ukrainian entrepreneurs who have fled to France.

Wunderflats in Germany is similarly providing temporary accommodation for Ukrainian refugees. While the platform itself does not automatically promise free accommodation, the company says that more than half of its landlords do not charge rent.

IT unity

Europe’s smallest and largest IT players have joined forces to support and rebuild Ukraine’s technology industry. Many initiatives have been launched to help various NGOs, largely consisting of modernizing and redesigning their existing IT systems. In addition, platforms are constantly being created to connect Ukrainian IT professionals with various European tech companies.

Jobs4Ukraine, a recently created website, is already supported by more than 60 partners. It is also open to volunteers who want to help Ukraine with their IT skills in Silicon Valley.

One of the biggest movements in this field, however, is Code for Romania, which has already gathered 2,700 volunteers. They have set up dopomoha.ro, a website that works with the Ministry of Interior’s Department for Emergency Situations, the International Organization for Migration and the Romanian National Council for Refugees, to provide real-time information for Ukrainians fleeing to Romania.

And, of course, Google is also supporting Ukraine, with a $5 million fund that provides cash rewards and Google support for Ukraine-based startups.

How can we help and what else is needed?

Refugees in Ukraine are not only losing their lives and homes, as there are also often long lasting implications to their mental health. Wars can carry traumas that ripple across generations if not properly addressed. “The legacy of war will be a traumatized generation,” wrote Serhiy Lukashov, Director of SOS Children’s Villages in Ukraine. 

According to German entrepreneur Thomas Duscha, mentioned earlier, many trauma specialists are needed in all European countries. While there are attempts, this form of help is still underdeveloped, with the biggest challenge being the build up of supply to match demand. Duscha emphasizes the need for help from the private sector.

MIT Enterprise Forum CEE, alongside many other startups and associated organizations in Poland, has helped establish Startups 4 Ukraine. So far, 64,000 PLN has been raised, with proceeds going directly to support the Polish Humanitarian Action’s ongoing efforts in Ukraine. You can learn more about this here.

However, we’re not done yet! We’ve recently invited 10 Ukrainian startups to our most recent UK Bootcamp, educating them on entering the British market, and we have many more initiatives in the works! 

What can you do?

There is strength in unity and together we can do great things. Even the smallest contributions can help and the world is full of both local and national initiatives, should you wish to help.

However, if you would like to donate and support a cause, we have listed just a few in this article:

• You can support Thomas Duscha’s campaign on PayPal here.
• You can support Lifesaver and Techfugee’s power bank campaign here.
• You can support Startups 4 Ukraine here.

The examples here are just droplets in a wider ocean. MIT Enterprise Forum CEE and the European startup ecosystem stands with Ukraine. We will continue to find more ways to help and support those that need it most.

The post How is the Startup Ecosystem helping Ukraine? appeared first on StartSmart CEE.

For the first time, the entire process, including recruitment, was carried out under the so-called lockdown conditions in many countries, market uncertainty, uncertainty about startups’ business, and verification of corporate partners’ needs. The accelerator team operated remotely and found itself in the new reality together with the whole world.

Even though the entire economy was in an uncertain situation, both our partners and startups in the CEE region focused on opportunities to build an even stronger organization that addresses the challenges resulting from the crisis. There are specific industries that maintained or even increased interest in solutions addressing certain fields, such as: Digitalisation of processes and services

• digital media
• healthcare
• cybersecurity
• sustainability, including green energy solutions and
• productivity software

which will be even more critical in the new reality than it was before.

Startups that have completed all the selection stages represent precisely these areas, which only confirms the general market trend.

This time, nearly 60% of applications came from outside Poland, with the largest number of startups from Romania and Ukraine. Still, there were also startups from countries outside of Europe such as Singapore, the USA, and India. It shows that the MITEF CEE accelerator is becoming recognizable worldwide, and the Polish market is becoming an interesting market for the development of startups also from ecosystems more matured than Poland or CEE. It is a good signal that our native ecosystem is becoming more competitive.

Among the positives of the new situation, which could be noticed during interviews with startups, was the fact that everyone was well prepared and 100% present during online meetings. Earlier, there were interviews with startups who happened to be on the go or dialed in from a cafe. My advice to everyone is that distracting environments plus unpreparedness produce poor results. Despite the full understanding of the work from home and having children in the background, it is worth ensuring the conversation’s right conditions to be productive and to make a positive first impression.

Over 50% of applicants were at product stage, 25% of them had already generated income or had first users and few of them were at the growth stage. Regardless of the level of product maturity, the innovative idea was adapted to new conditions, almost everyone, therefore, learned their first lessons from the crisis. There was also impressive progress in the works of those startups whose idea emerged in less than a year. It shows that on the battlefield, remain the ones who are the most determined and convinced that their product meets the needs of a sufficiently large market.

The difference between this acceleration and the previous ones is primarily the fact that we start it in the 2nd wave of the pandemic, possible lockdowns and conditions of full uncertainty. In such conditions, the verification of all business assumptions as part of the methodology of 24 steps of disciplined entrepreneurship, close work with corporate partners or the Future Lab workshop where we teach startups how to build action scenarios out of uncertainty become even more necessary.

This year’s events confirm that we live in interesting times.

The post Magdalena Jabłońska CEO of the MIT Enterprise Forum CEE about recruitment to the 4th edition of the program appeared first on StartSmart CEE.

Are you the founder of a post-MVP tech startup? Do you come from Central and Eastern Europe? Do you want to prepare in the best way possible for the market launch, and meet potential customers and investors along the way? You’ve come to the right place! MIT Enterprise Forum CEE Startup Accelerator is a non-equity tech accelerator, part of the global network of accelerators connected to Technology Review of Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

We help Founders prepare for the market launch of their startup better than they could imagine. In order to get on board this most business oriented startup Accelerator in Europe, you have to apply to get a seat. We invite applications by July 5th 2020 here: Click to enroll

Let’s start from answering the BIG question – How do we do it?

24 steps of disciplined entrepreneurship

This unique framework, developed by prof. Bill Aulet from MIT Sloan School, is a comprehensive and practical way to confront all assumptions you have made about your business. We do not know a single participant who did not pivot some aspect of their business while undergoing the 24 steps. During the 6 workshops lasting in total 2 months, you work on your business, receive feedback from the trainers, business experts and other participants. Ultimately, you end up with a better constructed business engine.

Access to business experts

Do you dread selling? Not every tech founder is a skilled salesperson. We help you overcome this fear.

Can you pitch your idea in 30 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes and keep the listener’s undivided attention? The Pitching Academy with Linda Plano is a five star program that will train you to pitch like you were born to sell.

Can you communicate events taking place in your business in such a compelling way that people will follow you, media will cover it, while your clients, investors, and employees will be listening to you? Clear and effective communication is at the core of any business’s success. We will help you master the essentials.

You might need strategic marketing assistance, legal or IP assistance, we have experts ready to help you in these fields too.

 Getting customers

MIT EF CEE entered into partnerships with leading corporations very interested in bringing new technological solutions to their companies. Thanks to this, you will be able to test your product in their environment, improve it, and if all goes well, acquire them as your clients. Review carefully the needs of our corporate partners, and make sure your solution satisfies well our partners’ needs.

Mentors

Our mentors, based on their extensive knowledge and many years of experience, will challenge and steer your thinking in a Socratic way. They are there as a sounding board to help you overcome issues at hand. With them guiding you, you will never make basic mistakes.

Non-dilutive Funding

Thanks to the grants awarded by the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development under Measure 2.5 SGOP Acceleration Programs, the MIT Enterprise Forum CEE program provides participants with financial support for the development of activities up to EUR 30,000. To make things clear – this is not money that could be spent on any purpose. What is it for? To give you the opportunity to establish commercial cooperation with a large enterprise and gain the first strategic client.

Global ecosystem for international scaleups

Your network of relationships will be dramatically expanded through other participants, corporate partners, mentors, business advisors. This ecosystem will later help you get answers quicker and from the right source. A good network saves you precious time, puts you in touch with the best people, and improves the chances of your success. MIT EF CEE is expanding its network of international connections to make it easier for you to get introductions and scale internationally.

Boston Bootcamp

The top five startups in any edition win the opportunity to participate in the weeklong bootcamp in Boston, which has been voted by many as the best part of acceleration.

Is it worth it? Of course! Do not hesitate and apply to the autumn edition of the MIT Enterprise Forum CEE program today. We are waiting for your application by 5^th July. Click to enroll The application form, program regulations, and advice how and where to meet us can be found at www.mitefcee.org

The post Why apply to the MIT ENTERPRISE FORUM CEE Startup Accelerator? appeared first on StartSmart CEE.

How did acceleration/bootcamp and a prize of PLN 100,000 (won in CVC Young Innovator Award) help you?

As part of the accelerator, we worked on the company’s business model with Polish and international experts for three months. We were given the opportunity to thoroughly analyze the Company’s situation with mentors, advisers and potential partners. Participation in meetings with lecturers of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology enabled us to seek knowledge from the world’s best mentors and upskill in business. The granted subsidy supported the implementation of the next steps in developing our technology.

How has this affected your business?

Thanks to the acceleration/bootcamp and winning 100,000 (in CVC Young Innovator Award), we have taken a significant step forward in the work on the project. We have also been able to purchase additional equipment for our laboratories. We have attracted several large investors and foreign funds and established cooperation with potential recipients of our technology. The success has also influenced the creation of our media image and promoted us internationally. Our achievements have been verified by Polish and international experts and we have been granted many honours and awards, including winning the competition for the best non-US startup during HubWeek in Boston or nomination for the Economic Award of the President of the Republic of Poland.

At what stage of development were you then and at what stage are you now?

At the time of participation in the acceleration program, we were at the stage of creating a business model and competitive advantage analysis, while in the area of technology, at the stage of validation of the functional model of the analyzer using our proprietary technology of non-contact optical heating. We worked on establishing the structure of further financing of the company and a plan for achieving specific goals. We also developed the concept of activities as a starting point for the preparation of a list of possible sources of funding and focused on the methods of achieving them. Last year, the National Center for Research and Development granted us funding under the Fast Track program, which allows us to carry out further work on the product and system for mobile molecular diagnostics. In addition to this support, we have received other funding to continue the company’s goals. Currently, in parallel with our research and development work, we are launching the CE-IVD certification process of the device for the European market. Our next steps will include mass production and global commercialization of the Genomtec ID device.

What can you gain thanks to acceleration/bootcamp and winning PLN 100,000 in CVC Young Innovator Award?

Participation in this type of events and initiatives will certainly affect the development of each company in many aspects of their functioning. Talks and joint workshop with experts will channel business and R&D activities. There is also the opportunity to promote your business internationally and that is an additional advantage. Acquiring valuable business contacts and  establishing relationships with potential investors is only a starting point for what there is to gain. Each of the startups has set goals that must be met to commercialize their products. Participation in the acceleration program may help them achieve this. It may also allow them to gain unique experience and take a fresh look at their own business. We are all doing our best to change visions into realities and would like our creations to increase the quality and safety of each of us. It is worth to take up the challenges of the program since it could help us during the proper implementation of the set goals.

“When we awarded Genomtec the CVC Young Innovator Awards, we appreciated the fact that it combines globally unique biotechnology and the mission of improving the availability of genetic tests in developing countries. The way they used the opportunities that victory in the competition brings, including by strengthening his position on the international arena and among investors, he proved the accuracy of their approach to business and the enormous class of this team. This was also confirmed by the last weeks, when during the pandemic coronavirus Genomtec quickly made a pivot, concentrating his work on multiplying the ability to test Covid-19 infections.” said Krzysztof Krawczyk, CVC Capital Partners

The post Genomtec on the road to global commercialization. appeared first on StartSmart CEE.

I am sorry you are having to deal with the short- and long-term impact it will have on you and your business.

I hope that this is the worst pandemic we experience in our lifetime. I hope it’s the worst global emergency of any kind that we face in our lifetime.

Emergencies will happen

But the fact is that there is no guarantee that this is the worst time you will face. A new virus could make the jump, climate change-catalyzed disasters, war, economic collapse, etc.

Even if we avoid global disasters, the very nature of a startup is that small, local disasters happen all the time… as do small, local triumphs. And because your team is small, anyone with a serious personal problem (illness, parent or childcare issues, etc.) can quickly escalate to a business problem.

Local events can have as much impact on you as an entrepreneur as the more global events have on all of us.

Being an entrepreneur almost by definition means facing an uncertain future much more frequently and personally than people who take roles in established organizations. Your ability to face risk is part of why you started your company and will help you manage this – and future – difficult times.

Control what you can

One of the worst aspects of crises like the pandemic is that we tend to feel helpless.

For those of you with medical or materials startups that can make a contribution to fighting COVID/19, congratulations, your vision and motivation have been supercharged.  

For the rest of us, it may feel as though there is nothing we can do to impact the epidemic. Many of us have a similar attitude toward climate change. What difference can we make on an individual basis when the problem is global?

Just like voting, what you do as an individual does matter even if it feels incremental.

Self-isolating and wearing whatever personal protective equipment you can get your hands on does help, at least to slow down the impact on hospitals and our medical providers.

Not getting sick is great personally, but it is also a real contribution to your community and your healthcare workers.

Not making others sick is an even bigger contribution.

You can’t control what happens across your country but you can control what you bring to your community.

And you can control what you bring to your startup.

If investors have gone into hiding, customers and partners are not answering their phones, and your most important industry event has been cancelled or moved online, it’s easy to feel as though you have no control over your startup. Somehow, this pain feels more personal.

The last group of entrepreneurs I coached had started companies for the travel and hospitality industry. If you think you have problems…!

My clients were stressed out. Would their industry even exist a year from now, let alone their little early-stage startup?

We don’t know. There is no way to know what the travel and hospitality industry will look like a year from now. Nor what co-working spaces will look like. Nor when budgets and risk tolerance will allow big companies to partner with startups.

We also don’t know exactly what work will look like in established companies, at least not in detail. It doesn’t matter what kind of work you do now; no one knows what is coming.

So control the things that you can.

• Make healthy choices for you and your loved ones. Your startup needs you to be fully engaged during this difficult time, and being sick – COVID or otherwise – is no help to anyone.
• Be kind to yourself. If you are particularly stressed, spend a day watching movies. Exercise. Read. Do something besides work and forgive yourself for taking off the time that you need.
• Be kind to others. Nerves are frayed. People are scared. If someone is unkind or unpleasant, assume they are having a bad day. Either leave them alone or treat them with kindness. Doing so will lower your stress as well.
• Use a system. In more normal times, our days are structured. Colleagues expect to see us at work by a certain time, you go to a certain coffee shop or bar or gym on a regular basis, etc. And now your routine is just gone. So build a new routine, one that will help you to keep structure in your day, that will help you feel the progress you are making.
  • One technique that I’ve found really helpful is to set a timer that I have to get up from my desk to turn off. I set it for 30 to 60 minutes and set myself a goal to finish some project in that time frame.  It makes a world of difference!
  • Another technique is to schedule blocks of your time to work on specific tasks directly in your calendar. Get distracted? Just move the block to a future time and try again. Your goal at the end of the week is to have accomplished the goals you set for each day for that week. You will feel an amazing sense of accomplishment!

These are just a few simple ideas that may help you regain a little feeling of control over your COVID crisis lifestyle. If you can’t control the big things, control the little ones. In the end, you will find yourself having a big impact in small increments.

But that’s just one side of the self-isolation coin! On the more creative side, my advice is to…

…Look for opportunities

Taking control of how you react to the coronavirus crisis is a great defensive strategy. But it’s so much more fun to create new opportunities and foster great new ideas! So take a breath and realize that “It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good”, i.e., few things are so bad that no one profits from them. As bad as the current crisis is, what positives can you find?

For some of my travel & hospitality clients, the best news out of the epidemic is that hotel owners have plenty of time on their hands, will need to be very competitive when they reopen and may well welcome the distraction of a novel technology that they otherwise would not take the time learn about.

For you, perhaps there is a customer out there with time on their hands.  Perhaps there are many! Use this time to set up telecons with them (find them on LinkedIn!), do your customer interviews and strengthen your relationships with potential and actual customers.

Perhaps your customers are 100% closed down right now. That’s fine: spend some quality time really thinking through your business strategies, analyze your competitors, read the latest papers in your industry, then brainstorm new ideas just for the fun of it. Or bury yourself in your own technology. We have the time to investigate areas of interest in depth. Take advantage!

Here are a few activities you might consider:

• Consider a pivot in your strategy. Now is the perfect time to consider alternate products, services, and go-to-market approaches. How can you adjust your approach to provide better products in the post-coronavirus world.
• Accelerate your product development. If your sales and marketing people have nothing to do, maybe they can help out with some aspect of product development.
• Give your R&D team the time and bandwidth to write a paper for a scientific journal for credibility, and use it as the basis for white papers to be made available on your website (at the price of your users’ email address!).
• Expand your analysis of competitors and comparable companies. Use the insights you collect to ensure that you do not make the same mistakes they did, and that you do copy the smart approaches they pioneered.
• Prioritize your key customers or partners and collect information about them that will help you to connect with the right potential evangelists.

Be part of the solution

In the end, whether your company succeeds or fails is not the critical issue, even though it feels like it is. What is critical is learning from the process, fostering relationships and building a reputation for integrity. You can accomplish all three of these goals no matter what your technology is. Spend some time thinking about how you can achieve them.

No one likes to be around people who complain or give up or are dishonest. Be yourself. Be an entrepreneur and look for creative solutions to survive and thrive in this environment.

And remember to look back a year from now and see how far you’ve come!

STOP!

Growing a company from founding to revenue and beyond means you are on a roller coaster:

• Unexpected highs when you connect with an amazing partner or your development team demonstrates a working prototype.
• Horrifying lows when an early angel investor claws his money back after committing it or the beta test fails.
• And smaller ups and downs every day as you manage your team, try to meet deadlines and milestones, and refine your strategy.

The only way to survive the stress and strain of building a company is to accept the roller coaster, to understand that every up and every low will pass.

The coronavirus is a very low low in the roller coaster of your startup life. It might be subterranean.

But it is also just one more external circumstance over which you have very limited control other than how you react to it.

Take advantage of the “low”

There are two positive responses to difficult challenges. I suggest you do both:

1. Learn something from it.
2. Turn it into an advantage.

These ideas are framed simply so that they are easy to remember, but can open your eyes to a wide range of possibilities.

1.     Learn something from it

One of the best advantages of being a startup is that you can adapt quickly to changing circumstances. But what’s the smart move in your industry?

Watch the approach your competitors take in response to the virus. How do they reassure their customers? How do they support their employees? What mistakes and smart choices are they making that you can avoid and implement, respectively? And how can you modify them to suit your company? Keep track of the ideas you gain and implement them, or make a list of proactive approaches to deal with the next downturn.

Brainstorm with your team and prioritize the ideas. Try some of them out, and keep track of the impact they have on your bottom line so you can decide whether to continue them after the market recovers.

2.     Turn it into an advantage

It is easy to be overwhelmed and discouraged by the parallel challenges of a depressed economy, broke customers, reorganized partners, and skittish investors. I don’t expect you to be upbeat all day every day – in fact, it is a good idea to be gentle with yourself so that you can keep your energy and enthusiasm positive. Take the time to wonder what you’ve done to deserve this… and then get ready to move on.

OK, now that you have acknowledged the challenges and given yourself a little perspective, it’s time to turn the coronavirus crisis into an advantage for your company.

The post Startup in a Shutdown appeared first on StartSmart CEE.

1. Apply for public founding or release from public duties

A newly appointed law so-called “Anti-crisis shield” allows entrepreneurs to apply for many types of founding or release from public duties. If due to COVID-19 your incomes have decreased or you are facing difficulties maintaining your regular business, you may apply for many grants, including:

• Co-financing of your employees’ salaries;
• One-time benefits and loans;
• Exemption from paying social security contributions.

The terms and conditions of each grant vary, depending on the scope of your work, number of employees and the degree of financial liquidity loss. The newly adapted employment laws allow you also to change working hours of some employees or sign an agreement lowering their salaries.  Check the official government website or consult an adviser to get more information: https://www.gov.pl/web/tarczaantykryzysowa

2. Re-read your contracts

State of epidemic can be considered as force majeure in many business relations, influencing your rights and obligations. Check if your contracts include any specific provisions regarding that matter. Usually, you would be required to inform your business partner that you are currently acting under the force majeure condition. Take a special look at your insurance agreements as they may have clauses exempting the insurers liability during epidemic. If you are renting office space, you may be required to take up extra actions to regulate the rent (rental agreements in big shopping centres expire by law, other agreements may be subject to new regulations). In extreme cases, you may refer to rebus sic stantibus clause (extraordinary change of circumstances) and seek remedy at court.

3. Catch up with your partners

The state of epidemic affects everyone differently. Get in touch with your partners to learn about their situation. Will they be able to provide you service on site if your servers crash suddenly? Are they able to deliver goods on time or will they end up stuck on a border? If you are facing challenges in timely delivery of your own services, inform your clients immediately. In some cases, your returns policy can be more flexible now (i.e. if you are cancelling some events, time for returns have been extended, you can also propose vouchers). In other, more complicated matters, you may be required to re-negotiate your contracts. Don’t wait until the last moment – current situation calls for more flexibility in business and it will be much easier for you to maintain trust if you focus on transparency.

4. Move on-line – safely and efficiently

Moving from the offline to the on-line does not end with adapting your services to the other medium. Behind all that you offer there is the whole back-end business: signing contracts, communicating with authorities, taking care of corporate matters or ensuring safety and privacy of your data. If you don’t have it yet, get an ePUAP account that will allow you to communicate with governmental agencies. Relying on regular mail, even when applying for grants, may prolong the process extensively. Check if you can annex your contracts without regular written signatures. If not, you can substitute that by using certified electronic signature. If you have to operate the company from the level of Management Board or Shareholders Meetings, now you can do that on-line too. Last but not least, verify the privacy settings of programmes and apps you use for daily communication and document sharing. Many platforms are low-key scanning your data and for contractors valuing IT security, this will be unacceptable.

5. Take advantage of the extended deadlines

Spring is the time for many financial and reporting obligations. Running your business, you may inevitably be forced to follow other deadlines too. The “Anti-crisis shield” has extended many of those, such as:

• Deadline for notification to the central register of beneficial owners – 13/07/2020;
• Court deadlines have been suspended for the period of epidemic;
• Applying for extension of legal stay in Poland for foreigners – you can do that up to 30 days after the end of state of epidemic and remain legally in Poland;
• Payment of perpetual usufruct fee (opłata za użytkowanie wieczyste) – 30/06/2020;
• Other deadlines (such as for preparation and acceptance of financial statements) can be prolonged in the nearest future by the Ministry of Finance.

6. Remain calm

As trivial as it sounds, keeping your cool is the most crucial element of surviving the crisis. Don’t let your emotions overflow you but instead try to build up a strategy for upcoming months and monitor the current state of your company. If your financial situation is declining, make sure that you are not fulfilling conditions for applying for bankruptcy or restructuring. The deadlines for applying for those types of protection are relevantly short and as a Member of the Board you are liable for company’s debts if you miss them. Try to maintain objectivity and ask for help if needed. The business environment will change in the most unprecedented way in the upcoming months. It will definitely be a challenge, but hopefully, in some ways, it will also open up doors for new opportunities.

The post Maintaining Business Continuity in the times of COVID-19 appeared first on StartSmart CEE.

Please tell us how you cooperate with the MIT Enterprise Forum CEE accelerator?

Under the CEE Accelerator Summit, InnovX Xelerator is happy to have found a leading acceleration program in Central and Eastern Europe that includes complementary elements to the structure of its own. The partnership between MIT EF CEE and InnovX Xelerator is meant to strengthen the added value received by startups entering both programs through the exchange of good practices materialized in the participation of Romanian Startups delegations to MIT EF CEE events and vice-versa. We also have in mind that by combining both markets: Poland #1 in CEE with 581 bn USD GDP in 2019 and Romania, #3 in CEE with 249 BN USD GDP in 2019, startups can access a larger pool of clients, ensuring that way the first step towards regional and international scalability. The results are also interesting: by acquiring new markets, startups have more chances to attract also pan-European VCs and international investors additionally to the national ones, as Poland, Slovenia and Romania have the fastest-growing markets in the region.

Following our first interactions in 2019, we can summarize the following directions of interaction:

• Gateway to Poland and Romanian markets: startups from Poland and Romania had the chance to interact with representatives of big corporations from various industries in the aim of attracting the lasts as their angel-clients;
• Creating a unique entry point for international investors interested in startups from Central and Eastern Europe: By having a pipeline that identifies startups from CEE, investors are more likely to access them through our partnership than by scouting each market separately.
• Startups delegations in CEE events: startups from both programs had the chance to participate at events organized in Poland and Romania but also in Georgia, where they had interacted with their peers, building strong bi-lateral partnerships with the aim of:
  • Offering complimentary products services to their network of clients;
  • Creating international consortia to apply for EU RDI grants;
  • Expending their network through collaboration as a more efficient way of growth.
• Startups delegation at international tech conferences: both acceleration programs have complimentary participation at international events, for example, MIT CEE Forum in Boston and InnovX in Silicon Valley, with the possibility for selected startups to attend them as a path to international growth.

What do you offer startups under the program?

The InnovX Xelerator is a non-equity program that offers to the selected startups a rigorous framework for acquiring the necessary competences for succeeding in a very competitive and dynamic global tech market. With the help of regional and international mentors, companies refine their product or service, by emphasizing their innovative advantages in an international context. While we do not directly finance the companies, we assist them to develop a functional business model materialized in business plans adapted to the different types of financing: European Grants, Bank Credits and Investments. Only after that stage, we offer them multiple opportunities of interacting with potential clients and finance professionals at specific match-making events conferences and pitch contests in Europe and the US. The results achieved by our 2019 alumni are encouraging for us as many of them won grants from the most competitive RDI program in Europe: Horizon 2020, attracted investments from VC’s and business angels and accessed the marketplaces of large corporations like UiPath, Microsoft and BCR part of Erste Group, Austria, just to name a few.

What do startups from your country gain thanks to your cooperation with the accelerator?

By cooperating with MIT CEE Enterprise Forum, InnovX alumni are participating in many of the events organized in Poland and worldwide. These are good opportunities to find potential partners in the MIT alumni and build strong partnerships for developing new complex innovative products and create international consortia for access to European grants and investments. But the main advantage is access to foreign markets, in our case Poland and Romania, and after that, Central and Eastern Europe. Also, we encourage startups from Romania and especially our alumni to register and participate to the MIT EF CEE acceleration program as we see it as a important step in their sustainable development.

Why was it worth establishing cooperation with MIT Enterprise Forum CEE?

MIT Enterprise Forum CEE is a leading accelerator in CEE that aims at developing high innovative startups scale in Europe and worldwide. While we share the same values, we found complementary activities that might complete the experiences that we can offer to our InnovX alumni. Also, at our last Demo Day in Bucharest, we welcomed MIT alumni to participate in our pitch contest and are happy to announce that two Polish startups won Full Access Tickets to one of the best events for entrepreneurs in the world: the Europe Conference organized by Startup Grind in partnership with Google for Startups in London UK. This interaction can be very well be described as a functional Coopetition (a neologism coined to describe cooperative competition, a portmanteau of cooperation and competition). Even if this is just the start, we are confident that by strengthening this bridge, we will help innovative startups scale faster and establishing CEE as an important hub for innovation and technology in the world.

What program values encourage startups from your country to apply for the MIT Enterprise Forum CEE program?

We found especially valuable the following:

• Disciplined pathway to the development of business: by using a proven methodology in entrepreneurship, startups are more likely to have a correct and successful launch;
• The international exposure: it is important for tech companies to have a global aim from their conception in order to ensure potential scalability;
• The support from, one of the biggest Polish and international organizations and companies in business model refinement;
• Access to the information, technical and technological resources of the program partners, as well as to key figures responsible for innovation.

Last but not the least, we are looking forward to welcoming MIT Enterprise Forum CEE Alumni to our next InnovX Open Day on the 27 of February 2020 where they will have the chance to see visionary speakers, talk with international investors, meet representatives of corporations from different industries and create partnerships with our innovative alumni. Also, by participating in our fire pitching contest, they might have the chance to win full access tickets to the next Europe – Asia Connect Conference organized by Startup Grind in partnership with Google for Startups in June 2020 in Tbilisi Georgia.

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Setting up own business, especially when it is focused on implementation of new, innovative ideas is a great opportunity. At the same time, building business based on R&D activities involves some kind of risk and requires a significant amount money, which can be real challenge, especially for start-ups. There are different possibilities to secure financing for research and development of new products, services or processes and one of them are grants from EU funds available in Poland (with flagship support – Fast Track) or at the European level (Horizon 2020 – SME Instrument)

Why Fast Track?

• Grants for R&D projects at various stages of development (industrial research, development works and pre-implementation activities) – you can obtain money for the whole process of product’s creation
• Support up to 80% of eligible costs of industrial research, 60% of development works and 90% of pre-implementation activities
• In case of R&D failure you don’t have to give money back – it’s key advantage in risky and highly innovative projects
• Maximum grant value – EUR 20 m for a single project
• Project can be run by single enterprise or consortium – you can find a partner which empowers R&D ability
• High budget – in 2019 alone, PLN 2 bn is waiting for enterprises
• At least 2 calls for proposals a year
• If you run the project individually (without consortium) the whole IP is yours
• You can obtain financing without giving away shares of your company

Why SME Instrument?

• Enterprises whose product /process/service is on the advanced stages of development (TRL 6 minimum) can obtain financing for further development and preparation of their solution for a market launch
• Activities could include preparation of feasibility study (Phase I – lump sum EUR 50 000, but the scheme is to be closed – the final deadline for applications is 5th September 2019!) and trials, prototyping, validation, demonstration and testing in real-world conditions and market replication (Phase II)
• In Phase II there are 2 options: only grant (EUR 0,5 – 2,5 m) or blended finance (grant and optional investment in equity up to EUR 15 m in addition to the grant
• There is also non-financial support including coaching, training, links to investors, partnering and networking with other EIC beneficiaries
• SME Instrument grants not only gives cash but also ensure wide range of additional support which can actually put a company on the map alongside established EU-market players

Two different programmes, two ways of development … Which source of support to choose? That depends on project maturity and business potential. Both programmes are generously funded, but competition is keen. If your solution is at an earlier stage of development and you still need to run a number of R&D works then You should start with Fast Track. But if the product/service is at least at 6 TRL and it will be innovation in European scale, then there is all to play for and the SME Instrument might be just the ticket!

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