MIT Enterprise Forum CEE, one of the largest accelerators for startups in this part of Europe, has just announced the finalists of the 3rd edition of the program. The winners include, among others, the creator of a solution that streamlines the management of flight and hotel reservations, an insomnia therapy system or the design of peptide drugs. What distinguishes them? Innovative ideas, unconventional solutions, modern technologies and great determination.
The MIT Enterprise Forum CEE acceleration is carried out under the patronage of a prestigious research centre and the American unicorn forge – Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). This year, as many as 221 startups from 20 countries in Europe and the Middle East signed up for the spring edition of the program. The 25 most promising startups, whose applications have been approved, come from 4 countries: Poland, Great Britain, Bulgaria and Hungary.
During the DemoDay program, which took place remotely on July 9 in Warsaw, five finalists who are to participate in the weekly Bootcamp in Boston were selected. There, in the cradle of American technological thought, they will have the opportunity to present their technologies to investors and potential US clients.
A ticket to Boston was awarded to:
Bakuun.com – is a solution that helps airlines save money and time in the event of air traffic disruptions by offering companies a system that can find and book up to 100 hotel rooms in 2 minutes.
Goodsleeper – is an application that digitizes the program of cognitive-behavioural therapy of insomnia, which is a scientifically proven form of treatment of sleep disorders.
PioLigOn – is a startup which, using computational methods, successfully develops a platform for the design of peptide drugs, allowing the expansion of peptides with unnatural amino acids and precise determination of the place of their desired binding.
Sensoliq – is an “electronic tongue” which allows the taste assessment of drugs which, for ethical reasons, cannot be assessed by expert panels.
VivaDrive – is a solution which optimizes the operating costs of traditional and electric car fleets, improves driving safety, and allows companies to implement low-emission transport.
Additionally, during the DemoDay, PioLigOn won the Audience Award. The Sensoliq team won the Alumni Award, awarded by entrepreneurs-innovators who participated in previous editions of the Accelerator. Both awards are granted directly by the market, which additionally confirms the great value and potential of the presented solutions.
Winning startups will take part in a weekly Bootcamp in Boston, where they will have the opportunity to get to know and personally experience the impact of one of the world’s largest innovation ecosystems.
For the finalists of this year’s edition of the MIT Enterprise Forum CEE, the visit to the USA is primarily a time of hard work. They are in the limelight now and in Boston, they must make the most of it. There, the innovators from CEE, with the support of the best experts on the local market, will refine the strategy of their businesses entering the American market, participate in a series of networking meetings, and finally present their solutions to investors and potential customers – says Łukasz Owczarek, Head of Acceleration Program. It is a successful formula and its effectiveness is confirmed by the successes of our Alumni in Poland and in the world.
PLN 100,000 for social innovations
Once again, the winner of the CVC Young Innovator Award competition, who received a check for PLN 100,000, was selected. The aim of the competition was to reward an innovative project that, apart from its technological potential, is characterized by high social utility. In this edition, the team which was granted this unique award was Planet Heroes. The Polish startup has created a global platform aimed at popularizing and financially supporting a number of grassroots initiatives to protect the environment. Apart from promoting environmental-related projects published on it, the platform uses fintech to support crowdfunding.
We have created the CVC Young Innovator competition in several countries around the world to find and inspire young and brave entrepreneurs, who want not only to change the landscape of their industry and cross the limits, but also to make a significant social contribution while building their businesses. CVC grants the award in Poland for the fourth time. Year by year, we see more and more projects whose ambition is to seek solutions to important social problems. This is what Planet Heroes, this edition’s awarded initiative, is about. It focuses on combating climate change – certainly the number 1 issue for the humankind today – said Krzysztof Krawczyk, Partner at CVC Capital Partners.
The main partners of the program include three organizations. Adamed – a pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, market leader in new generation drugs, Coca-Cola in Poland – the leader of the non-alcoholic beverages market, and MCX – the core of a strong group of specialized companies, providing comprehensive FinTech, renewable energy and broadly understood SmartCity solutions. Supporting partners include Allmedica, Archicom, CVC Capital Partners, HubHub, MDI Energia, Nationale-Nederlanden, PZU, Sabre Polska, Sollers Consulting and TVN – part of the Discovery Group. The implementation of the program is supported by a grant awarded to Foundation for Technology Entrepreneurship by the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development under Measure of the 2.5 SGOP Acceleration Programs.
