After 10 weeks of the acceleration process we were ready to show off 10 teams that rocked the stage at The Heart Tech. We gathered more than 200 people at the audience made up of investors and corporate representatives. All of the teams started their adventure in business just 10 weeks earlier, applying for the ReaktorX pre-acceleration program. Some of them have already been able to verify the business idea and get their first customers.
That includes GOAP, the winner of the jury prize, a startup allowing teenagers to spend their pocket money on developing their hobbies. Kuba and Kasia, the start-up cofounders, noticed a gap in the children’s services market. When a child turns 10, he does not want to do what his parents choose for him, but prefers to pursue his own ideas. However, there is no platform that would allow them to choose extra-curricular activities in a safe way. GOAP aims to be such a platform, a place where every teenager can follow their dreams.
The laureate of the audience award, VirtualCFO, founded by a Latvian – Dima Medvedjko, is dealing with a completely different niche. It promises to solve the problem of a lack of financial liquidity among companies operating in the agency model, such as software houses or interactive agencies.
“Running a company is like driving a car, with one difference – we only look in the mirror,” says Dima.
Its product allows you to visually control cashflow, which helps its clients to avoid financial troubles.
Borys Musielak
co-founder of Filmaster, a personalization service acquired in 2015 by Samba TV where he is currently building the European branch. He also runs ReaktorWarsaw, a hub for startups to work, collaborate and network, and co-founded Startup Poland, a foundation that became a voice of Polish startups. Listed as one of 50 most creative Polish entrepreneurs by BRIEF. Mentor at Founder Institute Warsaw.
GOAP and VirtualCFO are not the only prize-winning startups. The Impact CEE conference award went to Seungki, who plans to blow up the market of freelance platforms with his blockchain-based FreelancerCoin (he has already collected a million dollars for the ICO project). Another ReaktorX partner, agency MU Interactive, awarded the company Briefly24, which is working on a platform for simplifying and speeding up the process of finding the best matching marketing agency.
Stress Hero, or a physical band for children to help them manage stress aroused the audience’s enthusiasm, as well as iLokum, a disruptive platform for the housing market.
Metis, a new hi-end furniture brand, deserves a separate mention, its creator Maciej Leszczyński presented their first product on the stage.
Demo night participants agreed that this edition of ReaktorX was the best of the previous ones, which was only slightly affected by the delicious drinks from Chivas Regal pouring from the bar.
The next edition of the accelerator is coming up this autumn, and the recruitment starts in August!