Acceleration complete. What's next?

Hi, it's Wojciech again,

As you may have noticed, we've been a little busy lately. You probably missed us. We did, too ?? In April, we overlapped three acceleration rounds simultaneously. We have to admit that it was quite a challenge even for us. Hence the slightly lower frequency of our newsletter. But we are back to business, and we promise to write a little more often. Next week we are preparing a pleasant surprise for all corporate innovators. Look out for it on LinkedIn.

In the meantime, we have to brag to you that ten new startups graduated from Space3ac. They have gone through a great business school since September 2021. Believe it wasn't easy. First, the fourth wave of COVID hit us. In late February, war broke out in Ukraine. Three of our teams from that country and alumni from previous editions rushed to help their families and loved ones. Nevertheless, despite numerous difficulties, all participants managed to complete the program. It does not happen to us very often, so we should appreciate their efforts. Here are the profiles of our teams.

CostPocket helps to automate expense management processes and save up to 63% of time spent on processing expense documents. For accounting professionals, the startup provides a semi-automated expense report creation solution integrated with many accounting software platforms. 

Comment: Space3ac is a perfect accelerator to enter the Polish market. The people working there are the Crème de la Crème of the Polish ecosystem and you can get introductions to practically anyone. We are very happy about the learning experience and the people we’ve met. We have managed to register a company in Poland, make bank accounts, have more than 10 paying customers, and a country manager working in Poland. Our next plan is to integrate with different accounting software in Poland and start to do marketing in Poland. Now we are looking for investors from Poland and introduction to different accounting software providers.

uTrigg mission is to create empathy online between conscious corporations and consumers, especially around ESG and other focused company activities. The startup helps marketing specialists to increase engagement with customers to 30% by deep customer feedback with emotion AI analytics.

Comment: During Space3ac program we managed to enter the Polish market with our actionable analytical AI tool for any eCommerce (that personalizes a website according to emotional state of visitors). Our achievement - we won Horizon-2020 to bring knowledge to society about disinformation and fight its spreading. This social activity will distinguish us for enterprise clients and enhance our marketing and sales position.

Werbot built a platform to make the sharing of server access simple and secure. Users connect to all servers accessible to them, with a single sign-on using their login and their private key. All work performed on the servers is recorded as a screencast, which can be viewed in the player in your account. 

Comment: “These were very productive months for Werbot: we put the project documentation in order, finished and launched Enterprise version 1.0, and made internal tests and marketing materials. Now we are looking for investments to assure the further development of the project, as well as for new members to join our team, in particular, a Vue specialist. The program introduced us to the Polish market and its specifics. Provided an opportunity to communicate with representatives of well-known companies who shared their experience of doing business in Poland. Werbot being a B2B startup whose target customers are software houses, it was important for us to understand how these companies operate in Poland. This country is developing the IT sector at an extremely fast pace and is interesting in terms of building a business model. Moreover, the startups that participated in the program were from different countries, which enriched our knowledge of their acquired experience in national markets.”

Battlejungle is an online platform specially designed for successfully managing employee engagement activities and events. Provides a collection of thematic activities for teams of all kinds. Thanks to the gamification solution, companies are able to better attract, motivate & retain top talent in the workplace.

Vanongo service saves time and ensures reliable last-mile delivery. The startup created an AI-based last-mile delivery platform that connects enterprises, and customers with a network of drivers. They provide enterprises ‘Amazon-like’ on-demand delivery on behalf of their brands.

SoftPRO is all about general, industrial, and street lighting. The startup specializes in IoT for industry and builds intraoperative and easy to scale-up systems for general lighting.

Aeroblue offers producers of composite materials a solution that allows controlling the quality of the manufactured structures. The developed system will be able to adapt to the individual needs of each client and the type of structures produced.

D3 is a German technology startup providing business solutions based on AI. The software augments the entire decision process by combining human intuition with AI to navigate uncertainty.

Atlas Tech develops a solution of creating Individualised offers for contractors combined with visualization of the existing infrastructure of the port in an interactive form that allows for effective imaging of investment stages and spatial analysis of existing plots.

Baltic Orbital Services builds transport and service spacecraft equipped with a control system (enabling independent orientation, navigation, and stabilization) and a multi-ignitable propulsion system. The spacecraft will be dedicated to supporting individual satellites and cluster launches by modifying the orbital altitude and inclination.

Working with such founders is a great pleasure. In a few months, more teams will join them. So if you are looking for such teams like our startups, let us know. Also, if you would like to discuss investing in the above companies or test their solutions in your companies, we will be more than happy to connect you.

Startup competitions & funding opportunities

Infoshare 2022 - the biggest tech conference in CEE. Limited super early registration is now open. Boost your startup & win €20,000!

Attend Infoshare to:

• enjoy the conference the way you want it – in person or online – within one pass,
• take part in our side events, network, and have fun,
• gain access to 6 stages dedicated to tech and business,
• listen to top-notch domestic and global speakers,
• further develop your skills at workshops and webinars,
• expand your network using Matchmaking (in person or online),
• create your personal profile in Matchmaking and get visible,
• check out Partner Expo and see what they can offer,
• take a look at interesting projects at Virtual Startup Expo,
• gain access to speeches recordings.

Date: October 6-7 2022

Place: AmberExpo, ?aglowa 11, Gdańsk, Poland + online stream

Register now

Links of the week

Corporate world news:

10-min read - What impact is the tech stock crash having on Europe’s startups? The VC model of blitz scaling unicorns between 2010 and 2020 is over. Read full story >>

Business development: 

4-min read - How Did Business Development Intersect With Marketing? When marketing & business development come together, there is a lot more commonality of messaging and better lead outcomes. Read full story >>

Startup news: 

6-min read - Polish business travel platform Hotailors scores €23 million to fuel international growth. Offering a comprehensive booking book for corporate travel, Hotailors is now looking to expand internationally and rebrand to ‘WorkTrips.com’. Read full story >>

Book of the week

Burn Rate: Launching a Startup and Losing My Mind by Andy Dunn. Hustling to scale the fledgling venture, Dunn raised tens of millions of dollars while boundaries between work and life evaporated. As he struggled to keep the startup afloat, Dunn was haunted by a ghost: a diagnosis of bipolar disorder he received after a frightening manic episode in college.

This book is an unconventional entrepreneurial memoir, a parable for the twenty-first-century economy, and a revelatory look at the prevalence of mental illness in the startup community. With intimate prose, Andy Dunn fearlessly shines a light on the dark side of success and challenges us all to take part in the deepening conversation around creativity, performance, and disorder.

We are glad that you are a part of our Business Development Club and we hope that the following information will help you grow. Feel free to share this newsletter with your community and invite your friends to subscribe!