SEC2SV 2018: the names of the European Tech Scaleups invited
A new group of Scaleup Europe tech companies ready to be showcased in Silicon Valley
They come from 8 different countries – Albania, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Spain – and employ nearly 1000 employees for a total of $75M in revenue and more than $135M in funding. They are the 13 tech European companies invited to join the 4th edition of “Startup Europe Comes to Silicon Valley” (SEC2SV), the premier program for future European Unicorns organized by Mind the Bridge with the support of the European Commission, the European Parliament, and EIT Digital.
For the 4th consecutive year, SEC2SV will welcome the most promising European companies to spend an entire week, September 9-15, in Silicon Valley. The scaleups will spend time with mentors, meeting potential partners and investors, and adapting their business to the US market. The program exposes them to an intense week of concentrated business development in the Valley to help them in their US expansion efforts, including a showcase to investors on September 11th during European Innovation Day (EID) at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View.
“SEC2SV – commented Isidro Laso, Head of Startup Europe at the European Commission – is the flagship initiative of the European Commission to build bridges among innovation ecosystems in EU and US. We look at this initiative as a super connector that we be mutually beneficial in reaching out to new markets for the startups and in generating diverse deal flows for investors in both regions”.
Among the selected scaleups, 3 scaleups have been invited with the support of EIT Digital, the European digital innovation and entrepreneurial education organisation driving Europe’s digital transformation. 4 additional startups, selected by Impact Accelerator, led by ISDI & FundingBox, will also join the 2018 EID showcase.
“This year’s cohort shows very well how much the European startup landscape has changed in just 4 years – Marco Marinucci, CEO Mind the Bridge commented- Compared to last editions, we can see promising businesses coming from new emerging Eastern Europe economies like Hungary, Albania and Poland in addition to the ‘traditional’ ones like France, Germany and Belgium. As suggested in our latest report on Tech Scaleup Europe, we are really looking at an improved scenario, with a stronger and more connected Europe committed to building its own identity, players, roles, regulation and hubs. The European Commission keeps playing its key role to strengthen the Innovation Economy of Europe and our data confirm this trend: the Scaleup Europe ecosystem last year registered a +28% growth in scaleup population and a +36% growth in capital raised compared to the prior year. These numbers translate to more than 1,200 new scaleups born in Europe and $22B in new capital invested in 2017”.
To date SEC2SV has hosted more than 2000 participants, 50+ scaleups and 100+ keynote speakers, such as Elżbieta Bieńkowska, EU commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SME’s; Julie Hanna, US Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship; Věra Jourová, Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality; Betsy Masiello, Head of Public Policy, Uber; Oona King, Diversity Director, YouTube; Henry Chesbrough, the Father of Open Innovation and many others.
The 2018 edition of EID will focus on some of the most relevant topics of the past year in tech:
- GDPR: Privacy and Data Storage/Transfer
- ICO’s (Initial Coin Offerings) and CryptoCurrencies Regulations
- European Economy of Innovation in Silicon Valley
- Sustainability and Local Government
- Startup M&A’s
Among the confirmed speakers for this year are: Vivek Wadhwa, author and opinion leader, Tim Draper, Partner, Draper Associates, Peter Arvai, CEO and co-founder, Prezi, Pēteris Zilgalvis, Head of unit, DG Connect, European Commission, Kristin Schreiber, Director COSME programme, DG Grow, European Commission, Sorin Moisa, MEP, European Parliament, Adam Sterling, Executive Director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Business, Sabrina Ross, international privacy and security expert, with more to be announced at a later date.
For the full list of invited companies for SEC2SV 2018, see below.
INVITED COMPANIES
Agorize – France – 2011 – SaaS
Agorize is an open innovation platform that connects people looking to scout for technology solutions for hackathons or innovation challenges. The platform is open to a wide audience such as students, new graduates, data scientists, programmers, startups and corporate employees.
agorize.com/en
Clairy – Italy – 2016 – Cleantech
Clairy is the most unique natural and smart Air Purifier on the market: it uses common plants to beat indoor pollution. Clairy supercharges the natural power of plants – phytoremediation- to purify the air indoors in a non intrusive and sustainable way. Clairy is also an object of design, and it features a technological core with advanced sensors and it lets users monitor the air quality directly via a dedicated mobile app.
clairy.com
Cleverciti – Germany – 2012 – Smart Cities | EIT Digital Portfolio
Cleverciti Systems turns the daily nightmare of searching for a parking space into a predictable, stress-free experience by using disruptive technology and big data. They have developed a new cost-effective and smart on-street parking system that uses sensor and wayfinding technology mounted to lampposts. This results in less congestion on city streets and reduced carbon emissions and other pollutants in city centers.
Other verticals are shopping malls, airport and corporates with large parking areas, seeking to offer better service to their customers.
cleverciti.com
Codecool – Hungary – 2014 – Cybersecurity
Codecool has created a 12-month course designed to teach users mainstream programming languages and skills, allowing non-technical professionals to transition into developer roles in just a year. Codecool also serves employers by providing a marketplace for companies to search for and contact developers who have gone through the Codecool sessions.
codecool.com
Fudo Security – Poland – 2012 – Cybersecurity
Fudo Security is a leading security vendor specializing in Privileged Account Management. With offices in the US and Europe and over 100 partners in 35 countries, it’s one of the most innovative and fastest growing security vendors in the world. Several hundred customers mostly from finance/insurance, telco, energy, oil&gas and the public sector are already using Fudo Security’ products.
wheelsystems.com | fudosecurity.com
Gjirafa – Albania – 2013 – Internet
Gjirafa, Inc., is the fastest growing Internet Services company in the Balkans. Gjirafa is an OTT media services and an e-commerce platform for the Balkans built on top of an Albanian language specialized search engine.
gjirafa.com
OptioPay – Germany – 2014 – Fintech | EIT Digital Portfolio
OptioPay processes payments from companies to customers, employees or partners. Recipients can combine bank transfers with higher-value gift cards to increase the actual value of their payment. Between bank transfers, e-wallets and higher value gift cards, OptioPay offers complete flexibility and adds value at both ends by offering diverse payout options. It is a Win-Win-Win situation for advertisers, issuers and recipients.
optiopay.com
Movinga – Germany – 2015 – Mobility
Movinga is a vertically integrated logistics tech company for customers and medium-sized moving companies. As a professional full service provider Movinga offers logistically optimised moves for private individuals and companies, goods transports and courier services. Pricing is done on a case by case basis and is nearly always lower than competitors.
movinga.de
Muving – Spain – 2017 – Mobility
Muving is transforming urban mobility with an electric scooter sharing platform offering eco-friendly and cost effective alternatives to urban commuting. Available to customers via the Muving app, scooters are located and reserved and highlight the positive environmental impact of each ride. Pricing is based on per minute rates. Muving is the leading platform in Europe currently in 12 cities including Madrid, Sevilla, Barcelona, Granada, Cadiz and more. The scooters are dockless and completely electric, serving as a green and flexible mobility option for urban areas.
muvingusa.com
Partnering Robotics – France – 2007 – Robotics
Partnering Robotics has produced the DIYA One robot, designed to monitor and maintain indoor atmospheres and encourage worker wellbeing. The robot is equipped with a variety of sensors that generate actionable environmental data on indoor pollution.
partnering-robotics.com
Piwik PRO – Poland – 2013 – Big data / Martech | EIT Digital Portfolio
Piwik PRO has developed a marketing suite package that allows customers to deliver optimized marketing campaigns and manage a database in the most sensitive and secure environments. They have taken the challenge of user privacy and data stewardship and built a full stack solution for marketing that complies with all regulation and privacy concerns.
https://piwik.pro/
Smarp – Finland – 2011 – Big data / Martech
Smarp is a SaaS solution companies can use to empower their employees to discover and share content created by the company such as blogs, events, and job listings, to their social media networks. Employees can measure the impact their content has on their network and improve their thought leadership and influence, while employers benefit from greater visibility and evangelism through their employees.
smarp.com
Uberall – Germany – 2012 – Martech
Uberall brings together local businesses and customers by ensuring companies are found across all popular directories, mobile apps, maps, and GPS devices with consistent profiles such as photos, descriptions and other data points. They also facilitate better communication with customers through real-time notifications of reviews or messages on the various platforms.
uberall.com
MY-GATEWAY AWARDS 10 STARTUPS WITH WEB SUMMIT TICKETS
July 24, 2018 – MY-GATEWAY holds an open application to give away free Web Summit tickets to ten startups based in or focused on Central Eastern European countries until July 27th.
MY-GATEWAY is searching for the 10 most innovative and disruptive startups to join the MY-GATEWAY delegation at this year’s Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal from November 5th to the 8th. A committee comprised of leading startup support organisations from Romania, Slovenia and Czech Republic will select the 10 startups through specific criteria.Some of the criteria include:having a developed idea, a financial plan and being based in or having a strong interest to work in the CEE region.
Would you like to apply? Click here.
As the largest tech conference in the world, with over 70,000 attendees, 1,200 speakers and 170 countries represented, Web Summit is the perfect event to gain exposure. The affair will consist of 3 full days of keynotes, workshops, and networking opportunities. In attendance will be a vast investor ecosystem,as well as over 2,500 international media outlets.
Krisztina Tóth, Director of MY-GATEWAY, explains, “We´re trying to create connections for these startups with other major ecosystems from within and outside of Europe by introducing them to investors, accelerators and mentors. This is one of the most important parts of MY-GATEWAY…. to create connections and provide access to networks that these stakeholders have in Romania, Slovenia, and Czech Republic.”
MY-GATEWAY is an initiative created by a team of experts who are passionate about improving the startup industry in Europe, specifically in the CEE region. With the aid of Startup Europe, MY-GATEWAY is helping startups gain insight into growth opportunities, access a vast stakeholder database and be represented at major startup related events. Additionally, this project will contribute to the expansion of Startup Europe to the Balkan region as well. This will be done through collaboration with leading startup support organisations in Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia by analyzing how to adapt to the needs of the Balkan ecosystems.
“The driving force behind MY-GATEWAY is to make them connected, to let them learn from each other and to come up with meaningful activities that will help them support their startups”, says Tóth.
MY-GATEWAY is an initiative of Startup Europe that aims to strengthen the capacities of high-tech start-ups and innovative SMEs in the CEE region to become better connected, gain higher market exposure, and have improved, streamlined access to funding opportunities and talents. For more information visit us at http://mygatewayproject.eu/ .
10 Million Euro Call – Info Day & Networking Event on 12 September 2018 | Topic: Startup Europe for Growth ICT-33-2019 / Innovation Actions
An information and networking workshop is organized by DG CNECT regarding the Innovation Actions of Startup Europe for Growth ICT-33-2019.
Budget: €10 Million.
Opening of the call: 16 October 2018,
Closing: 28 March 2019 17:00.
A budget of 10 million euro will be distributed among ecosystems builders and leaders who want to work with other ecosystems across Europe. We are looking for organisations aiming at “Connecting local tech startup ecosystems and supporting cross-border activities: among the 4-5 startups ecosystems connected by each project, at least half of them will be located in less developed ecosystems. The project should develop a single online entry point to each one of the ecosystems and connect them to the Startup Europe one-stop-shop. Cross-border activities will include: connecting tech entrepreneurs with e.g. potential investors, business partners, accessing skills and services helping startups soft land in new international markets. Particular focus will be placed on stimulating partnerships between scaleups and corporates with a view to procurement, mergers or acquisitions. Similar attention will be placed to support SMEs, startups and scaleups, wherever situated in Europe, to access public procurement opportunities across borders.”
The whole text of the call is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/opportunities/h2020/topics/ict-33-2019.html
The Workshop will take place on 12 September 2018 in Brussels in the European Commission’s, MADOU Auditorium, Place Madou 1, 1210 – Saint-Josse-Ten-Noode.
The event targets potential applicants to the calls for project proposals under the Horizon 2020 ICT-33-2019 topic.
Draft Agenda:
9:30-10 Registration
10:00 – 10:30 Welcome address
10:30-11:00 ICT-33-2019 Startup Europe for Growth topic presentation
11:00-11:30 Proposal evaluation: expert perspective
11:30-12:30 Questions and answers
12:30-13:30 Networking lunch
13:30-15:30 Presentation of ideas for proposals
15:30-17:00 Networking between participants
Registration is obligatory: https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/startup-europe-growth-call-proposals-info-day-networking-event
For participants interested in presenting their project idea, please write a short email, attaching your one slide presentation to [email protected] by 1 September.
Open Calls to Soft-Landing Missions in October-November 2018: Silicon Valley, India, The Netherlands, Berlin and Paris
Silicon Valley, India, The Netherlands, Berlin and Paris: these are the destinations of the upcoming Missions for startups/scaleups and ecosystem builders! Applications open on F6S until 17 September. Don’t miss it!
Are you a startup/scaleup based in Europe looking to expand your business and explore new markets?
Are you an ecosystem builder, i.e. startup mentor, incubator or accelerator representative, investor, serial entrepreneur interested in discovering new startup ecosystems?
Soft-Landing is back with multiple Missions for startups and ecosystem builders. Deadline to apply: 17 September 2018
Missions for Startups and Scaleups
Soft-Landing supports startups and scaleups in the discovery of new ecosystems and business development with a 1-week Mission at a particular destination ecosystem and up to one month soft-landing support.
- Get access and connect with the destination ecosystem network
- Gain knowledge of the ecosystem’s establishment conditions, incentives, tax and legislation
- Receive mentorship on market establishment and scaleup
- Participate in local events and conferences
- Take part in a Startup Europe initiative – participation is free of charge
- Get access to tailored support, office space and other facilities (in the European ecosystems you can extend the 1-week Mission for up to 1 month)
OPEN CALLS TO STARTUPS AND SCALEUPS
> Zoetermeer, the Netherlands (15-19 October 2018)
> Berlin, Germany (22-26 October 2018)
> Paris, France (5-9 November 2018)
> Silicon Valley (12-16 November 2018)
APPLY NOW: www.f6s.com/slsa/apply
Missions for Ecosystem Builders
Soft-Landing gives ecosystem builders the opportunity to dive in an intensive & immersive 3-5 day Mission in another startup ecosystem, to explore it and meet with other key leaders, building bridges between them.
- Gain deep knowledge of other startup ecosystems
- Learn the processes required to scale there
- Find out about the available resources for startups
- Build long-lasting relationships with local startup ecosystem leaders that support scaling
- Provide better advice to your local startups/scaleups on scaling destinations
- Break knowledge barriers and misconceptions about the foreign ecosystems
- Take part in a Startup Europe initiative – participation is free of charge and you can benefit from partial travel and accommodation expenses reimbursement
OPEN CALLS TO ECOSYSTEM BUILDERS
> Zoetermeer, the Netherlands (17-19 October 2018)
> Berlin, Germany (22-24 October 2018)
> Paris, France (5-7 November 2018)
> Silicon Valley (12-16 November 2018)
> India (November 2018 – TBC)
APPLY NOW: www.f6s.com/slb/apply
Previous Missions – what’s it like
- The very first Mission landed in Berlin and gathered a diversified delegation of ecosystem builders who got to explore the Berlin startup hub with support from our local partner GTEC. Take a look!
- The first Mission for startups was custom made to Fintechs and took place in the Netherlands in April. The group of entrepreneurs mingled with ecosystem builders and met key players in Zoetermeer, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, in a programme organised by Crosspring.
- In Paris, each startup had one-on-one mentoring sessions with top mentors. Apart from exploring La French Tech with support from IMT Starter – the French Soft-Landing partner, the startups and ecosystem builders got free access to VivaTech! Check it out.
- Soft-Landing and GTEC organised a second Mission in Berlin before the Summer. The group had great talks and discussions about the Berlin startup ecosystem and also went to Tech Open Air! Meet the delegation.
- Startup Division organised in June the Vilnius Blockchain Week under the Soft-Landing and Startup Lighthouse projects. Startups and ecosystem leaders got to meet blockchain rockstars from all over the world and understand what’s hot about the Lithuanian startup ecosystem. The week culminated with the first edition of the Startup Europe Block Forum. Check all the details and useful links.
Keep track of the SoftLanders
We’re growing a community of promising startups and high-level ecosystem leaders.
Follow us on Twitter or on Facebook for fresh news about the #SoftLandingEU Missions.
Calling startups to join the Industrial IoT Deep Dive Week in Berlin & Analytics in Lisbon – Applications until 31 July
Startup Lighthouse is opening up applications for two mini intensive acceleration programmes that help startups scale-up: DDW Berlin on Industrial IoT (10-13 September) & DDW Lisbon on Analytics (16-18 October).
Preliminary agendas of the Deep Dive Weeks are up on the website (http://startuplighthouse.eu/) and promise busy days, plenty of 1-on-1s with potential clients and immersion into the local communities. Know promising European startups innovating in manufacturing, IoT, analytics, machine learning, data science?
The deadline is 31 July – apply now on F6S! Travel costs are reimbursed. Check all details below.
Deep Dive in Berlin | 10-13 September
DDW Berlin – Industrial IoT: Berlin needs no introduction: the German capital records more than 40 thousand startups, and IoT is one of the key verticals. Over the past few years, over 50 corporate accelerators and other special programmes, such as Lufthansa, Metro, SAP, IBM, Viessmann, Volkswagen, Daimler and Bosch, have moved their innovation hubs to Berlin. The DDW becomes a gateway to the German industry giants and the Mittelstand (+3 million SMEs making up the fabric of the economy) looking to stay competitive through innovation and startup collaboration.
The Berlin DDW will be an action-packed program with real benefits for startups and scale-ups, including:
- Two-way Pitching: Corporates pitch startups on specific collaboration options
- Matchmaking with multipliers & corporate partners
- Industry specific Workshops
- Access to the local IoT ecosystem
DDW Berlin is delivered by Daniel Moreno and the etventure Startup Hub team, experts in company building and corporate innovation. Here’s a preliminary agenda of #DDWBerlin.
Apply to DDW Berlin by 31 July on F6S: www.f6s.com/ddwberlin/apply
Deep Dive in Lisbon | 16-18 October
DDW Lisbon – Analytics: Sunny Lisbon is home to an emerging startup ecosystem steadily rising in popularity after becoming the first European Capital of Entrepreneurship in 2015 and then the new home of Web Summit in 2016. This is enabled by growing portfolio of successful companies (analytics examples: Feedzai, OutSystems, Attentive) and network of support through accelerator funding, tech incubators and newly refurbished coworking spaces popping up all over the city. Lisbon is overflowing with talent, with a strong emphasis on tech, analytics and data, being the home to Lisbon Data Science Academy and Universidade de Lisboa, number 11 for Engineering and top 50 for Computer Science in Best Global University rankings.
The highlights for DDW Lisbon include:
- Corporate innovation session with Accenture
- Among Investors: Curated 1-on-1s & pitching competition
- Workshops by Startup Lisboa, Beta-i & SRS on doing business in Portugal
- Quality networking: Coworking space tour & “A Night in the Brewery” by MUSA
DDW Lisbon is delivered by Tim Brown and the FastTrack VC team, empowering disruptive startups with seed investment, execution expertise and market experience. Here’s a preliminary agenda of #DDWLisbon.
Apply to DDW Lisbon by 31 July on F6S: www.f6s.com/ddwlisbon/apply
What’s the cost?
Participation in the programme is 100% free of charge thanks to Startup Europe and travel expenses are reimbursable up to 500€. Startups are welcome to bring 2 team members to the Deep Dive Weeks.
Selection criteria
- Market-readiness: Must have at least functional MVP, ideally already with recurring revenue in one market.
- Fit with Deep Dive Week: Must be relevant to the topic / vertical of the Deep Dive Week being applied to.
- English proficiency: Must be able to communicate well in English, including pitching and Q&A.
- Validation: Raised 50-250k€ and/or has significant revenue / growth.
- Scalable: Strong technological component, scalable internationally.
- Relevant Traction: Significant number of users, growth of revenue or strong commercial agreements.
- Ambition: Looking to raise for a Round A+ (1 million €) or equivalent.
- Location: Priority given to startups from Germany, Ireland, Baltics and Portugal.
- Team: Balanced with both business and technical demonstrated competencies.
These criteria are indicative – high potential startups are always considered! If you have a question – drop us a message.
Previous Deep Dive Weeks
- We’ve brought travel tech and aviation startups from all over Europe to meet some of the industry super stars in Dublin. Take a look at the programme offered by DCU Ryan Academy.
- After Dublin, we were in Lithuania for a full week talking blockchain! Check out the programme organised by Startup Division and the startups we supported.
About Startup Lighthouse
Startup Lighthouse mini acceleration programmes provide a combination of sector-specific “softlanding”, acceleration and internationalization. The Deep Dive Weeks provide support and guidance from local ecosystem leaders and gives know-how & access to ecosystem resources. A Scaling Manager identifies each startup the needs and ambitions before the DDW, facilitating contacts during and after the week. Deep Dive Weeks are most beneficial for startups that are ready to scale.