4 teams will travel to Passau and Regensburg for the Danube Cup 2023 international final
2023-05-02 14:26:34Danube Cup Hungarian final with the founders of Munch and FlyingAds.
The Hungarian final of the Danube Cup 2023 took place on 19 April at the Corvinus University of Budapest. The competition was open to teams from the Corvinus University of Budapest and the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, who presented their validated startup ideas in front of a professional jury.
The history of the Danube Cup dates back to 2016, when the two founding universities, Corvinus University of Budapest and Budapest University of Technology and Economics, launched the first startup competition. For two more years, only these two universities competed with each other. In 2019, the cup became international: Austrian and Serbian universities joined the competition. Unfortunately, during the pandemic in 2020, the Danube Cup could not be held, but in 2021, with an even larger number of participants, three new universities and one new country, the Danube Cup was held online, with a team from Belgrade taking the winning cup. In 2022, the international final of the Cup was held abroad for the first time: hosted by the Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien (WU) in Austria and the JKU Linz team taking home the trophy. This year’s grand final in May will give the chance to start-up teams from eight universities from four countries to compete against each other in Passau and Regensburg.
The Danube Cup finals in Hungary were a great opportunity for the 2-5 teams from the two founding universities to compete for valuable prizes and, more importantly, business skills. Eight teams out of 11 applicants were invited to present their 3-minute pitch at the competition on 19 April.
The judges were:
- Luca Bárdió, Co-founder, Kikapcs
- Emese Pancsa, CEO, Compocity
- Lénárd Horgos, Absolvo, Founding Partner
- Máté Varga, 77 Elektronika Ltd., Head of EmTeg
- Tamás Balassa, freelance consultant, former Starschema CFO
While the jury was deciding, Munch founding member Kirill Perepelica and FlyingAds CEO Levente Rátz talked about the opportunities of starting a business in Hungary and what it is like to be an entrepreneur in Hungary. Kirill stressed that the most important thing is that students with an entrepreneurial mindset dare to embark on the path towards realising their entrepreneurial dreams. “Just do it”, as Kirill put it, which was echoed by Levente as well.
In total, four teams – two from Corvinus and two from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics – qualified for the international finals in Germany. All four selected teams demonstrated innovative ideas and impressive business value. Interestingly, the same teams would have been awarded by the jury (the jury did not see the results of the public vote). The winners were:
- Aprently and Gellit finished in a tie for third place. Aprently is a real estate portal that connects tenants and landlords to medium and long-term rentals as quickly as possible. Gellit, meanwhile, provides manufacturing infrastructure for farms, converting animal waste into high-quality fertiliser and soil improvement products.
- In second place was the Workredible team, which aims to revolutionise travel by offering short-term work opportunities, especially for students who cannot afford the cost of travelling. The platform offers opportunities in the desired destination so that travellers can cover the cost of their trip while gaining work experience.
- The first-place winner was a startup called Arterio, which has created a revolutionary wearable blood pressure monitor that can provide continuous measurement. This innovation has the potential to provide hospitals with cheaper technology that can be purchased in larger quantities and meet the needs of hospitals better in this area.
All young students from universities in Budapest had an excellent entrepreneurial spirit. The international finals in May will be an exceptional opportunity for Hungarian students to broaden their horizons and make international contacts. Congratulations to all the teams who presented their innovative ideas to the jury!
The Danube Cup events would not have been possible without our sponsors: Budapest Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 77 Elektronika Kft., Tresorit, Exi-tech powered by Zenosyne, Ifjúsági Vállalkozásélénkítő Egyesület, National Talent Programme.
